The Magical Quest
by nld200xy
Summary: It is a wonderful time in Magic Kingdom as Princess Minnie is to be crowned the queen. But the evil King Pete has other ideas as he sends someone to kidnap Minnie, only to capture Pluto instead. Now it's up to Mickey to save his best friend. Can he do it?
1. Chapter 1

The Magical Quest

Disclaimer: I do not own Mickey Mouse. I also don't own this concept as this is loosely based off of the video game franchise from Capcom. (I say "loosely" because I am messing around with the plot quite a bit)

We begin our story in a kingdom simply known as Magic Kingdom. This was a beautiful and vast land where everyone lived peacefully under the rule of King Richard the Third. Of course there was a princess as well, a lovely young mouse by the name of Minnie. The castle they lived in stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the other houses. Minnie always felt it was a little much, but King Richard didn't.

Of course, they weren't the only two living in the castle. There were, of course, royal guards, advisers, chefs, but the most important to our story are the peasants, most notably a jester and a pair of cleaners and a pet.

The jester was a tall lanky dog. With a dopey expression on his face most of the time, he was known as Goofy.

The first cleaner was a short-tempered duck who would pick a fight with pretty much anything that provoked him... just as long as it wasn't twice his size. This was none other than Donald.

Finally, the second cleaner was a young mouse by the name of Mickey. Mickey was a kind and optimistic soul, never refusing to perform a single task, no matter how embarrassing and tiresome it was. Was he just a loyal worker or was he just doing all of this for another reason?

Mickey was good friends with Goofy and Donald, keeping the two in line most of the time. They were the only ones in the kingdom he really seemed to get along with. Wait, why do I feel someone glaring at me?

Oh, yes, I forgot about Pluto! Pluto was Mickey's best friend as he was, well, his dog. Loyal, courageous, caring, Pluto was truly an important figure in Mickey's life!

While Mickey and Donald mopped the floor in the chambers, Donald looked at his handiwork as the portion he had just cleaned was spotless. He could even see his face in the floor.

"Job well done!" the duck stated gallantly as he plopped down on top of an object to take a rest. He slowly turned his eyes around, realizing he was sitting on top of the water bucket. The duck panicked as he got up, lifting up the bucket with his rear end. His eyes went wide before the duck fumed, swinging his behind back and forth, the bucket refusing to move. He then proceeds to bend over, using his feet to pry the bucket off, but to no avail. That bucket was stuck pretty tight.

Donald eventually applied so much force that the bucket flew along with him into the wall, the wooden water holder breaking into little pieces while the water now covered Donald, the duck grimacing and shaking himself dry, his feathers puffing up while he did so.

Mickey simply finished his portion of the floor, wiping sweat off of his forehead before saying, "And that's that!"

The mouse noticed Goofy juggling a set of rubber balls and asked, "Working on your act, are you?"

Goofy nodded and turned to Mickey, still juggling the balls while saying, "I sure am! Tonight's a big night, after all."

Unfortunately, Goofy had just broken his concentration as one ball flew from his hands, bopping Donald on the head. As the duck grimaced, he noticed another fly from Goofy's hand as he ducked down, laughing as the ball bounced off the wall and ricocheted into the back of the duck's skull, Donald falling forward.

"Why, you little!" Donald grunted, folding his sleeves and marching towards Goofy as another ball slipped out of the dog's hands into Donald's mouth, going down his throat as the duck started to cough.

"Uh... Goofy?" Mickey said as the jester ignored him while saying, "Who would have guessed that I'd be chosen to entertain the guests at this year's annual fes-tee-val?"

Yes, Goofy had a tendency to... let's say put his own spin on certain words. And Goofy's words were, indeed, correct as every year at the end of June, there was a festival in the kingdom to which everyone in the village was invited. It was a gala to be remembered by all. Goofy had been chosen as this year's entertainment, which was a very big deal as he'd never been selected before.

"If Mama saw me now, she'd be so proud!" Goofy exclaimed as Donald finally hacked up the rubber ball, throwing a tantrum and waving his fists around as Goofy walked over to the duck, placing a hand on his head and said, "You seem all fired up for the festival, Donald, ahyuck!"

Donald attempted to bean the jester in the face as Goofy let out his silly laugh, forcing Donald back, completely unaware that the duck was trying to harm him. Mickey rolled his eyes, let out a chuckle of his own then sighed, saying, "The best part of the festival is that I'll get to see Princess Minnie."

Hearts filled his eyes as Goofy chuckled and pointed at the mouse saying, "Gorsh, he's in love," Donald still scowling at the dog.

And Goofy was once again right. Minnie was the apple of Mickey's eye. How the peasant longed to win her heart. But the mouse snapped out of his state, a look of hopelessness crossing his face. He knew his chances were slim. After all, why would the princess ever want to marry a lowly servant like him?

Donald and Goofy noticed his state, Donald finally forgetting about his frustration with the jester and putting on a look of concern for his friend. After all, he knew just how the mouse felt for he, too, had feelings for a member of the royal family. His reason for being was Minnie's personal fashion expert, a beautiful young bird by the name of Daisy Duck.

Speaking of which, Minnie and Daisy were currently in the princess' chambers, preparing for the event that would take place in a mere two hours. Minnie was currently dressed in a puffy green dress.

"Does this dress make me look fat?" Minnie asked as Daisy nodded saying, "Yeah, that just won't do."

With that, the duck quickly pulled out a board used to cover one up while dressing, removing the big dress and fitting a different outfit, removing the cover to reveal a roman queen's outfit. Minnie looked at it, blinking as Daisy shook her head exclaiming, "So last century!" before putting the cover up once again, removing it moments later to reveal Minnie now wearing an elegant violet gown.

"Oh, I like this!" Minnie stated, looking at her reflection in a nearby mirror while Daisy nodded saying, "Now that's a princess' outfit."

Minnie giggled while turning around, looking at all sides of the dress before Daisy placed her hand against the princess' shoulder saying, "Remember, Minnie, presentation is almost as important as the look."

"Oh, I know," the princess replied, "I have to act like a princess too, right?"

"That's right," Daisy replied, nodding her head before putting on a scared look asking, "Is that creepy cleaner guy gonna be there? I don't like the looks he gives me."

At that very moment, a short pudgy figure of a man entered the room wearing a royal cape and crown while wielding a sceptre. The man looked at Minnie with delight and ran over to the girl hugging her tightly.

"Oh, Minnie, you look positively radiant!" he exclaimed as Minnie chuckled saying, "You don't look so bad yourself, Daddy! I think that diet of yours is working."

"Well, I did lose a whole pound today," Richard boasted with a grin while the two laughed, Daisy sighing at the sight of this. She would have gone so far as to give up her great fashion sense to have a relationship like this with her father... were he still living in the kingdom that is.

"It's too bad Mom couldn't be here for this event," Minnie said before taking a deep breath, Richard placing a hand on her shoulder saying, "Your mother would be so happy. Don't forget, this year's festival is very special."

Alas, Minnie's mother had died from pneumonia when the princess was only eight. Naturally, Minnie missed her very much. But now was not the time to dwell on the past. Tonight was a night to be happy as it was, as King Richard had said, a very special night.

"Daddy, you'd better hurry and prepare yourself," she said as Richard looked at the clock, nodding and saying, "You're absolutely right, honey! We only have a couple more hours to prepare!"

Everyone else in the kingdom was in just as much of a hurry, Mickey especially. The mouse entered his room, his pet dog Pluto pouncing on him and licking his face as the mouse laughed, trying to push Pluto off of him.

"Please, Pluto, now's not the time for that!" he exclaimed as the dog stepped off of him, panting happily while Mickey walked over to a cupboard, pulling out a bag of dog food while saying, "Tonight's a big night. I need to prepare."

Pluto tilted his head to the side, scratching his head with his tail before remembering what tonight was. He then bolted for the closet, Mickey pouring the dog's food into his dish, turning around and noticing that the dog had fled. His eyes widened, but his look of shock soon turned to an even more surprised one as Pluto leaped out of the closet, holding a fancy suit with his teeth while wagging his tail.

"Pluto, did... did you make this for me?" Mickey asked as the dog sat perfectly, giving the mouse an army salute.

The mouse laughed joyfully and pet his dog atop the head saying, "Good boy!" putting on the suit and exclaiming, "It's a perfect fit!"

Mickey then started to feel bad. Every year, he would always have Pluto guard his room while he enjoyed the festival. Pluto seemed happy enough with this arrangement, but Mickey didn't think it was right.

The mouse then snapped his fingers, let out a chuckle and said, "Pluto, you deserve a reward for this! How would you like to come to the festival with me?"

Pluto put on a confused expression as Mickey stated, "I'm serious! I mean, who would steal from my room anyway, right?"

The dog let out a happy bark, licking Mickey's cheek as the mouse laughed once more. Clearly Pluto was more than happy with this arrangement.

All the while, Donald was picking out something to wear. He wanted so much to impress Daisy this year, so he needed to look his best. The duck opened up his wardrobe looking at a number of sailor outfits, all of which looked exactly the same. See, Donald used to be a member of the marines. Granted, he wasn't a highly honoured member. He hadn't even been given a single complement during his time spent serving them. Nevertheless, it was still something to boast about.

Donald pointed at one, shaking his head and saying, "No..." then inched his finger over to another before repeating, "No..." but when his finger pointed at a third one, the duck nodded, knowing this was the outfit for him. I, for one, question this logic as they did, after all, look exactly the same.

Goofy was looking through a drawer of his own, but this wasn't for clothing. No, he was looking for props to use for his act.

"Now let me see here," the jester mumbled, digging through the drawer. The man pulled out a spray flower saying, "Nope," and throwing it to the side.

He went through many different things, including an exploding cigar, a unicycle, a chainsaw, and even a living, breathing lion until he found it, the perfect thing for his act: sparklers!

"Ahyuck!" the man laughed before placing them in his pocket saying to himself, "This is what my mom used in her act! I can't quite remember what happened after that," as he failed to notice a portrait behind him of a woman with a similar face being chased out of town, a fruit stand burning in the background with a sparkler right next to it.

And so two hours past and soon everyone was gathered for the festival. The children all ran around the grounds, having as much fun as they could while the adults helped themselves to the free champagne. Needless to say, everyone was having a great time.

Mickey arrived with Pluto by his side and looked at the other peasants and chuckled. He truly was the most well-dressed of all the subjects. The mouse turned to Pluto with a smile patting the dog on the head saying, "You don't need to be with me all night. Go out and have fun, boy."

Pluto panted happily, his tail wagging as he ran toward the buffet table. None of the guests seemed to mind this. In fact, they were all thrilled to see a pet at the festival.

As Mickey smiled, shaking his head, he noticed Donald and Goofy headed towards him. Donald grinned, slicking his hair back and saying, "Daisy's sure to notice me this year!"

"Gorsh, I wish I looked as handsome as you!" Goofy replied as the two noticed Mickey, their jaws dropping.

"How do I look?" Mickey asked as Donald folded his arms muttering, "It's a little overkill if you ask me," Goofy giving Donald a cross look saying, "Now, there ain't no need to be jealous, Donald."

Mickey then looked down and said, "It's not like it matters anyway. Minnie still won't notice me in this."

Donald and Goofy gave their friend concerned looks as Goofy's soon changed to one of confidence, the jester walking over to his friend and smacking him on the back of the head, Mickey's eyes going wide. Before he could respond, Goofy proceeded to say, "Mickey, you are the best friend a guy like me could ever have!"

"BEST FRIEND!" Donald retorted, fuming with envy as Goofy ignored this while adding, "Any princess out there would be lucky to have you! If you want Minnie to notice you, maybe you should make the first move!"

Mickey let out a sigh and placed his hands in his pockets saying, "I'd probably be kicked out of the castle if I did that," walking off as Goofy held out his hand, lowering it seconds later and looking on with concern when he realized it was hopeless.

Donald simply walked over to him and said, "Don't worry. He'll be okay," as Goofy nodded and said, "You're right. Besides, I need to stay focused tonight!"

Minnie was just about to exit the castle as Daisy asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to do anything else for you? I could do your hair real quickly... or ears..."

Minnie laughed and said, "It's okay, Daisy. Everything will be fine."

But just as she was about to join her father outside, Daisy remembered something important as she said, "Wait," before pulling a pink bow out of her pocket and placing it atop Minnie's head saying, "Now you're perfect."

Minnie smiled and hugged the woman as Daisy joined Minnie, the two walking over to a stage. Richard was seated on a fancy chair, signalling Minnie to sit next to him in another chair. Daisy, like all the other servants, had to stand. She never liked this rule, but she never questioned it because even she knew what crossing the line was.

Amongst the guests was a dark and mysterious figure dressed in a cloak and wearing a big dark hat to cover his face. Who was this being and why was he trying so hard to cover himself up? Nevertheless, everyone was having too much fun to even notice the man. Well, everyone except Mickey.

Mickey's good mood seemed to have been destroyed by his own words. He had such high spirits until shortly after he entered the festival grounds. Maybe it was best he just forget about Minnie for now and try to enjoy himself.

After all, everyone else was having a good time. Donald, for instance, was at the target game positioning himself to hurl a ball at the target. As he threw it, he missed and started throwing a tantrum, but that was just the kind of guy Donald was. It didn't stop him from enjoying himself.

Meanwhile, Goofy was entertaining some of the kids with his juggling act to pass the time until his big moment arrived. Goofy always found ways to entertain himself, even when there was barely anything to amuse himself with.

All the while, Pluto was playing with another group of kids, receiving all kinds of belly rubs, some kids even feeding him bits of their festival food. Perhaps Mickey did need to lighten up.

"Aw, shucks!" he exclaimed, getting up from his stupor and putting on a look of confidence, "This is no time to be down in the dumps! It's time to have some fun!"

But just before he could do that, a loud horn could be heard as one of the guards shouted, "ATTENTION, GUESTS! THE KING HAS AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!"

Everyone gathered around immediately upon hearing this. Everyone had heard the news about King Richard making an important decision that he would share with everyone on this very night. It had been the talk of the town for quite some time.

Donald tried his best to make his way to the front so Daisy would notice him. He pushed a few people out of the way before running into a fat man's rear end. The duck grimaced and ducked down, attempting to crawl under the fat guest's derriere while grumbling mild curses, finding it rather hard to squeeze through.

Eventually, he did so, rolling toward the front and turned to the fat man muttering, "Why you little..." before noticing Daisy, his look of frustration turning to one of happiness, the duck whistling and waving at Daisy.

Daisy heard the sound and uttered, "Please don't be him," turning her eyes toward Donald who waved at her, a goofy smile on his face as the girl rolled her eyes, planting her hand against her face. Why did Donald have to be the only male duck in the kingdom?

Goofy quickly ran toward the stage, stumbling and tripping over his own left foot, falling face-first against the ground. The man let out a simple 'Ahyuck' before climbing back to his feet.

All the while, the stranger stood in the middle of the crowd, his eyelids narrowing, his teeth flashing through the darkness and formed a grin. What was this strange man planning?

Meanwhile, Mickey had more trouble than Donald fighting through the crowd as he was way at the back, Pluto joining him. The mouse looked over at the dog and patted him atop the head saying, "Guess we're both out of luck tonight," Pluto shaking his head.

Before Mickey knew it, Pluto lifted him up atop his shoulders, struggling to stand on his back legs while holding onto his master, Mickey letting out a laugh saying, "Gosh, Pluto, you don't have to do this for me."

Of course, Mickey was more than happy as he could at least see the princess now. Richard quickly rose from his seat and faced the crowd of people, holding out his arms to silence them. He then proceeded to exclaim, "My loyal subjects, I have big news for you all!"

Everyone listened attentively as the man proceeded, "As you know, I have grown old! I can no longer run this kingdom as well as I used to! As such, it is my pleasure to announce that a new ruler will take my place!"

The subjects all looked at one-another, wondering what this was about as Richard placed a hand atop Minnie's shoulder saying, "I, of course, refer to my beautiful daughter, Princess Minnie Mouse!"

The crowd of people all cheered, Mickey looking down and sighing, "Now she's going to be a queen. It's even more unlikely that she'll notice me."

With that, said, he jumped off of Pluto's shoulders as he walked off, hands in his pockets while Pluto looked at his master with concern. At that very moment, Goofy was called up to perform as he walked onto the stage, pulling out his sparklers and setting them off, juggling them while the crowd cheered.

But just as Pluto was about to go after his master, something very odd happened. All of the lanterns lighting up the night had been burned out, the subjects all panicking. Daisy looked back and forth asking, "What's going on!"

Donald snapped his fingers and spat, "Aw, phooey!" no longer able to gaze upon his dearly beloved. However, that wasn't all that happened. Goofy tripped and let go of his sparklers, falling flat on his face, not that anyone could see it happen.

To make things even worse, the stranger in the crowd finally opened up his cloak, no one able to see him do it, as a group of small shadows emerged from it. Of course, as stated, they only looked like shadows in the darkness.

Mickey looked up, eyes darting back and forth as he saw what looked like the silhouette of Pluto dashing towards the stage. After all, Pluto had the best sense out of anyone there. He knew what was going on right now.

Minnie was so confused as she saw what looked like round shadows flying at her while Pluto leaped atop the guests' heads, beating the small shadows to the stage and shoving Minnie out of the way, the shadowy figures picking him up instead of her, flying off as the cloaked figure took the skies, once again unnoticed by everyone, stuffing his captive in a bag and taking off.

Soon enough, light returned to the lanterns as everyone noticed that everyone was still there, that nothing had seemed to change. Goofy noticed all eyes on him and quickly got to his feet, grinning at the crowd. Donald noticed Daisy clinging onto him out of fear as she looked over at him, the sailor grinning before she screamed, smacking him in the face and backing up, breathing heavily.

However, not all was as it should have been. Mickey was the only one to notice that Pluto was missing. He looked back and forth, running through the crowd of people, shoving them all to the sides crying out, "PLUTO!"

As he got to the front, he looked around letting down tears while Donald and Goofy looked at him, running to the mouse's side. After all, they were all friends. They cared about each other.

Minnie looked at the other mouse with concern of her own. Sure, Mickey was a lowly peasant, but she couldn't ignore someone in need of help. Even Daisy looked worried, despite Mickey being associated with her 'stalker' as some might put it.

"Guys, have you seen Pluto anywhere?" Mickey asked as the others shook their heads, Mickey turning to the guests and asking, "Have any of you seen a light-brown bloodhound?"

"I saw one earlier playing with my kids," said a woman as a young girl said, "He's a nice doggy! Is he yours?"

"Yes," Mickey said, hope in his expression, "Have you seen him recently?"

The girl shook her head as the others shrugged as well. Minnie held out her arms and shouted, "As the future queen of Magic Kingdom, I order an all-out search for this poor mouse's pet bloodhound!"

Everyone stared at her for a while then shrugged remembering that orders were orders. But what an odd request: setting aside everything for a lowly peasant.

Richard simply looked at Mickey, who still had tears in his eyes saying, "Don't worry, son, we'll find your dog," as Mickey said, "Don't bother searching. I know he was still around here when the lights went out."

Then it hit him. What if something had happened when the lights went off? At that very moment, Richard noticed a slip of paper on Minnie's chair.

The king opened it up as the others watched, Goofy asking, "What's it say, kingy?"

The king cleared his throat and read aloud, "Dear King Richard: If you are reading this note, this means that your daughter has been kidnapped and taken back to my lair! If you want her back, you'll have to forfeit your kingdom to me! Yours truly, King Pete of Peteland!"

Everyone gasped at this then realized Minnie was still there and sighed with relief. Goofy rubbed the back of his head saying, "Well, gorsh, if the princess is still here, then why has that Pete guy left this here letter behind?"

"Now that you mention it," Minnie said, placing her fingers against her chin, "I did feel something knock me off of my chair before the lights came back on."

Then it was soon clear to everyone what had happened. Pluto had saved Minnie but was captured in the process. Pete didn't have the princess: he had Mickey's dog!

Minnie looked at Mickey with concern and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, sir... that was a brave thing your dog did."

Mickey tried to hold in his tears but couldn't as he cried out, "WHY COULDN'T HE HAVE TAKEN ME INSTEAD!" crying while Donald held the mouse up by one arm saying, "There, there, Mickey..." Goofy letting down tears of his own, helping his friend up by the other arm, the two walking him out of the grounds and back to the castle. This wonderful night had become a catastrophe. Who knew just how much Pluto was suffering right now?

Later that night, Mickey lay in his bed wide awake. He couldn't get to sleep. How could he? His best friend in the whole world was gone, probably being tortured at this very moment. He couldn't have cared less right now who this King Pete was and why he even wanted the princess. Nothing else in Mickey's life seemed to matter without Pluto around.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door as he looked up and groaned, "Enter..." his head slumping back down against the bed.

Mickey was shocked to see Minnie entering his room. He couldn't believe it: A member of the royal family was visiting a mere peasant. The princess simply walked over to his bed and sat beside him, a look of concern on her face.

"I'm sorry about what happened, sir, but for what it's worth, that was a very brave thing your dog did," she said with a weak smile, "He saved my life, you know."

"Yeah," Mickey replied with a sigh, "A real hero, that Pluto."

Minnie saw that cheering Mickey up would be more difficult than she could have imagined. She then looked at the mouse and giggled asking, "Say, I almost don't recognize you in those peasant garments."

"Oh, yeah, that," Mickey said, a small hint of a smile coming on his face, only to be replaced by another look of sadness as he said, "Pluto made me that suit the other night, you know."

"He made you a suit?" Minnie asked, now wondering how a house-pet could even operate a sewing machine, then her look of confusion turned to a serious one as she said, "I will not stand for this! I promise you that we will find out where Peteland is and find your dog!"

Mickey looked up at the princess and asked, "You'd do that... for a peasant?"

Minnie nodded and said, "I care about all my subjects," before exiting the room, Mickey smiling briefly before looking down and asking, "But what if they can't find out where this kingdom is?"

Upon exiting, Minnie noticed Daisy next to the door, folding her arms and asking, "Were you eavesdropping again!" Daisy putting on a nervous smile saying, "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

The duck then grinned at the princess before asking, "Say, you like that boy, don't you?"

Minnie let out a sigh and said, "I can't keep secrets from you, Daisy! I do like him!"

Daisy gasped and started to go on and on about how it was wrong for a princess to feel that way towards a peasant, Minnie pretending not to hear any of it as the two walked off to bed for the night.

After a few seconds, Mickey's eyes widened, the boy coming to a quick realization. This wasn't a time to be lying around. What if he was right? What if the kingdom was incapable of helping him?

"Pluto's my dog!" the mouse exclaimed, a serious look in his eyes, "If anyone's going to save him, it's me!"

Then letting out a yawn, he looked at the clock next to his bed and said, "I'll start first thing in the morning," crawling under the covers muttering to himself, "Can't save dogs while tired..."

Note: Any questions you have regarding the logic behind some of these plot points will be answered in later chapters. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this so far. I've actually had this idea for a while but wasn't sure if I should make my own story adaptation of the first Magical Quest game. I do not intend on making future chapters nearly as long as this one. Just saying this in case you were wondering.


	2. Chapter 2

The Magical Quest

Before we return to Mickey's story, let us enter a far-off land, a land where darkness covered all. The sun never shone here nor did it ever rain. This horrid, baron wasteland was known as Peteland, run by a fat cat named Pete.

Inside his large castle, the tyrant king sat on his throne, small flying creatures with helmets fanning him while a guard that resembled a smaller version of entered, giving the man an army salute stating, "We have the princess, sir!"

The king grinned wickedly, laughing while saying, "Excellent! Everything is going according to plan!"

With that, the cloaked figure flew into the room, taking off his robe to reveal a vile creature underneath. He had an imp-like face with white bat wings coming out of his back. He was short and stout, wearing yellow overalls and a small silver helmet.

The creature had a bag humped over his shoulder as he bowed to his king saying, "The plan went off without a hitch, sire."

Pete grinned wickedly, laughing like a mad-man while the imp-like being opened up the bag, but the two were shocked by what came out. Rather than seeing the beautiful young mouse they had sought, a bloodhound rolled out of the bag, panting for breath until he looked up and noticed Pete, his eyes going wide.

Pete lowered his eyelids as the imp-like creature slowly inched towards the door, the cat shouting, "INGO!" at the top of his lungs, the imp trembling with a nervous grin on his face while saying, "It was an honest mistake, sire. Anyone could have made it."

"SHUT UP!" Pete snapped as the servant laughed and made a zipper motion across his mouth, shrugging while the cat looked down at the dog as Pluto started to bark angrily. Before the king could even respond, the dog rushed in and sunk his jaws into the cat's leg, Pete crying out in pain demanding, "GUARDS, LOCK THIS MUTT AWAY!"

The royal guards entered the room, giving the king an army salute before placing a chain around Pluto's neck. The dog fought hard against the force, but it was no use as the guards overpowered him and dragged him out of the room.

The imp, Ingo, looked at his master, still trembling while he said, "I have no idea how this happened, sire. I specifically told my minions to go after Minnie's chair. That dog must have gotten in their way or something."

Pete nodded and said, "Well, if this dog cared enough to risk its neck for her sake... then maybe it belongs to her," winking at Ingo as the imp grinned, nodding his head and said, "That's good thinking, your liege. Maybe we can use the dog to bring the princess here!"

Then Ingo proceeded to place his hand against his chin saying, "Say, Pete, sir, you never did fully explain this plan of yours. Why do you need Magic Kingdom? You already took this one from your father and named it after yourself, and it's a very fine kingdom to boot," the imp looking out at the city adding, "Depending on your definition of 'fine'."

"Well, I had to," the cat replied with a grin, "Did you know that old fogey wanted to call it Celestia? What a horrible name for a kingdom!"

Ingo grinned and nodded his head. Of course, as you have probably guessed, he wasn't in full agreement with everything the king said. But it wasn't his place to argue. After all, King Pete could have had anyone executed if he pleased.

"To answer your first question," Pete continued, "Magic Kingdom holds a power that I want, but in order to have it, I must own that very land. If I can't have the land, I can't have that power!"

Ingo nodded, still rubbing his chin before stating, "If you don't mind me saying, there is a possibility that the princess has already sent her royal guards to retrieve her dog. If they by chance succeed, that could ruin your plan."

The cat's eyes widened as he slumped down on his chair. That was a good point. However, his look of fear soon turned to one of confidence as he grinned, laughing insanely.

"Uh... sire?" Ingo asked as the king clapped his hands and shouted, "GUARDS! BRING ME MY BOOK OF SPELLS!"

A group of guards rushed into the room, standing atop one-another like a pyramid as the one on the top handed the king a big book, Pete opening it up and snapping his fingers, eight guards wheeling in a big cauldron. With that, the king let out a devious laugh while Ingo looked with curiosity. He didn't know the king knew magic.

With that, Pete starting to conjure up magical energy as he explained, "When I was a boy, I wanted to learn the dark arts! My mommy said it was just a waste of time!"

Ingo had to admit, he was now very interested in all of this as Pete shot a blast of magic into the cauldron adding, "If she could see me now, she would eat her words because I now sing this enchanting rhyme!"

With that, ghosts that resembled Pete emerged from the evil king's hands while the cat continued, "With my power, I'll summon demons to take care of those pesky fools! One-by-one each of them shall fall and with their blood I shall make some rather big pools!"

Ingo cringed at the sound of that. Sure, he was a demon, but even he found such imagery disgusting to think about. Pete let out a thunderous laugh while bolts of magic shot into the cauldron, the king stating, "With my magic, I shall construct the finest and strongest and smartest of beings, each with an intellect and power so high, they'll never show remorse!"

"How can you be sure they'll be so smart?" Ingo quipped as the king proudly placed a hand against his chest remarking, "Why, they'll be modelled after me of course," Ingo muttering, "It figures."

With that, Pete proceeded to bring up images of various different areas, shooting magic and sending ghosts resembling him into each one, all the while laughing wickedly at his handiwork. All the while Ingo trembled with fear at the very idea. Truly the king had gone overboard with his plan. Takeover was one thing, but murder? Despite the demon's state of fear, this act also gave him a bit of respect for the king. The truth was that he had been hoping to receive such orders himself.

"They'll never know what hit them!" the king exclaimed, "They'll never be prepared! All them little worms will fall right into my trap, never knowing what is coming to strike them from behind. It's a shame I have go to such great lengths, but if I didn't do it, my plan might fail..."

Pete let out a sigh and laughed asking, "Who am I kidding? I love this job," then proceeded to shout to the heavens, "It won't be the dog but their ends that they'll find!"

As the king laughed wickedly, he turned to Ingo and said, "Go to the forest and make sure all goes as planned! I cannot afford any mishaps, you got that? Assist my demons, if you must!"

Ingo nodded, giving an army salute and said, "Yes, my lord!" flying from the castle while laughing maniacally and turning to the readers saying, "Sometimes, it pays to be evil."

After a good night's sleep, Mickey awoke at five in the morning. He needed to make sure no one would stop him, and he knew they would. If his friends knew about this, they would worry about him and plead him not to go. It hurt the mouse not to tell them, but he knew that this was the right thing to do.

He quickly entered his work space, pulling his working gloves out of a closet. After all, he didn't want to get his hands dirty during his quest. He also pulled out a mop, but after a few seconds, he blinked and tossed it to the side pulling an axe out of the closet saying, "Now that's more like it."

But just as he was about to leave, he heard footsteps behind him, his eyes going wide at the sight of a familiar-looking duck. But what was Donald doing up at this time? If anything, Donald was the heaviest sleeper of them all.

The duck rubbed his eyes, yawning while saying, "Good morning, Mickey," before his eyes popped wide open, the duck shouting, "Mickey!" as the mouse held his finger in front of his mouth making a "Sh" sound.

Donald stared at the mouse with confusion as Mickey sighed, "Look, Donald, Pluto is my best friend. If anyone should save him, it should be me."

The duck's eyes widened at the sound of that as he looked at the mouse with concern. It may not have been him rushing into danger, but he still cared about his friend and there was no way he would just sit back and let Mickey kill himself.

"The guards will handle it!" Donald stated as Mickey shook his head saying, "For all I know, Pluto's probably being tormented right now."

Donald put on a look of anger saying, "I will tell the king if you go," Mickey halting for a second to turn toward his friend as he remarked, "Go ahead," the duck's eyes going wide.

Mickey had ignored him. Donald had warned Mickey and the mouse just carried on as if the ex-sailor's words meant nothing. Donald was not going to stand for this. He knew it wasn't his business, but as mentioned, he didn't want Mickey to throw his life away.

"Fine!" the duck retorted, "I will tell! I'll march right up to the king and tell him to bring you back to the castle!"

Mickey let out a sigh and walked toward the exit saying, "Donald, I didn't understand a thing you said back there," making his way out of the room while the duck groaned, walking in the direction of the king's chambers muttering, "Stupid Mickey throwing his life away for a pet..." however, those very words of the duck's caused Donald to freeze briefly, the duck lowering his head and shaking it while grumbling, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Mickey had walked a few feet from the castle as he turned to it, a look of sadness in his eyes. This was it. There was no turning back now. Once he entered the forest located just outside of the kingdom's barriers, he would have no choice but to carry on. His chances to return were slim, but he knew that he had to do this.

Just as the mouse turned away from the castle, he heard a familiar voice crying out, "MICKEY, WAIT UP!"

Mickey turned to see a duck running towards him wearing a sailor uniform before shaking his head, saying, "Donald, nothing you say is going to change my mind!"

"No, I'm coming with y-" Donald started to say, but was cut off as he tripped over a pebble, rolling hard into Mickey as the mouse fell on his back.

As the mouse slowly shook his head, rubbing the back of his head, Donald pulled on his collar saying, "I'm coming with you."

"Are you pulling my leg right now?" Mickey remarked as the duck shook his head saying, "It's the truth. I can't let you go off on your own!"

Mickey let out a sigh, shook his head and smiled before letting out a chuckle saying, "I knew you'd come around sooner or later," before climbing back to his feet and saying, "You know what they say. The more the merrier," as he continued on his way, Donald following close behind.

The duck was already beginning to regret his actions, of course. After all, he knew that he too was putting himself in danger to help a friend. But how was this any different from what Mickey was doing? After all, Mickey also knew of the dangers that lay ahead, but his bond with Pluto kept him going anyway. Donald may have had a thick head, but he understood what it must have felt like for Mickey to lose his best friend.

Soon enough, the two had entered a large forest full of life and beauty. Here, the sun shone bright. Covering this forest were huge trees, tomatoes twice the size of an average man, rivers and much, much more.

"Well, this is it," Mickey said with a laugh as Donald's eyes darted back and forth, the sailor nervously uttering, "Y-yeah, this is... it..."

However, this forest wasn't nearly as peaceful as it looked as nearby, a large blue snake with a face that resembled Pete's was sleeping nearby. As Mickey and Donald trekked through the forest, Mickey stepped on a branch. This caught the snake's attention as it grunted, slowly opening its eyes, a look of anger in its expression as it eyed the two.


	3. Chapter 3

The Magical Quest

Back at the castle, Minnie woke up after a good night's sleep. She slowly walked over to her mirror but noticed something odd. For a split second, she could swear she saw Mickey's face instead of her own. She rubbed her eyes and Mickey was no longer in her sights. She must have been imagining things.

She had actually dreamt of Mickey while she'd been asleep. She had dreams of the two of them skipping through a field and having a romantic picnic together. But what was it about Mickey that struck her? It wasn't as if he was the only other mouse in the kingdom. There was just something about him that made her heart melt when she saw him for the first time.

Suddenly, a group of birds flew in through Minnie's window, chirping a happy tune as the princess let out a sigh, an odd feeling deep down inside. Was this that feeling many referred to as 'butterflies in one's stomach'? Nevertheless, it filled Minnie with many positive emotions as she walked over to the window and looked out.

As she looked up at the sky, she let out a sigh and said, "When I saw his eyes for the first time, I felt things that I never felt before."

The birds started to join in while she continued, "Now that I've seen his handsome smile, I want to see him more and more."

With that, Minnie started to dance gracefully around the room, grabbing her nicest clothes and stating, "Daisy thinks that it shouldn't be, but I for one think it should. After all, is it not my life to live? It's my choice to do what I would."

As she stepped behind a cover, Minnie quickly changed her clothes as she posed for the birds who whistled at her while she added, "A queen needs a king who's loyal and kind to rule by her side. That poor boy Mickey is just that king and my feelings I cannot hide."

Then with a warm smile on her face, she held one of the birds on her fingertip saying, "I know it can work."

The bird chirped while the others smiled and nodded, the princess adding, "He's truly the one for me."

Then with that, the princess danced gracefully towards the door stating, "This was a match that was truly meant to be," exiting the room while the birds shrugged, realizing their purpose had been fulfilled and flew away from the castle.

Meanwhile, in the forest, Mickey and Donald continued their trek, unknowing of the large mutated snake following close behind. Donald was grumbling mild curses under his breath as a bunch of small purple bugs kept latching themselves to him. Soon enough, his whole body was covered as the duck fumed and flailed his arms around furiously, the bugs soon flying away from him.

"That's better," Donald said with a look of frustration, pushing his sailor hat forward and carrying on as more bugs flew at him and covered his entire body, the duck throwing another tantrum.

Mickey looked at this and slapped his forehead saying, "Donald, this is no time to be goofing around!" Donald glaring at him as the bugs soon noticed the snake emerging from a set of bushes, snarling at the duck. The bugs knew that this couldn't possibly be good as they flew away from Donald, the duck smiling and brushing himself off saying, "Now that's more like it," his back still turned to the large snake.

As the snake looked as if it was preparing to pounce, Mickey looked back and forth at a fork in the path asking, "Say, Donald, do you know where exactly we're supposed to be going?"

Donald glared at Mickey again as the mouse chuckled, "Yeah, perhaps we should have gotten some kind of direction as to where Peteland was located before leaving, huh?"

The two shrugged and decided to try the right path just as the snake leaped at them, missing completely and running face-first into a tree, a large tomato falling from it and landing hard atop its head, covering its face in tomato juice. The snake hissed angrily in response to this as it slithered along the right path, certain it would catch its pray this time.

Back at the castle, Goofy awoke from his own slumber, scratching the back of his head and letting out a big yawn. He looked as if he was still half-asleep as he made his way towards his drawer, pulling out his jester uniform and placing it on over his pyjamas.

The dog then proceeded to exit his room, walking in the direction of the basement, which was the area his friends always had to clean up. Mickey was often awake before him, so it was always nice to wake up to the mouse's happy face. Hopefully, Mickey would be in a better mood this morning.

As Goofy made his way down the hallway, he ended up subconscious tripping over his own left foot falling down a stairwell while screaming at the top of his lungs, "YAAAAAAHOOHOOHOOHOOHOY!" landing face-first in the basement.

Goofy got up, rubbing his nose as he noticed something odd. Mickey wasn't there doing his chores. Well, rather than assuming the worst, Goofy, like the optimistic type that he was, simply chuckled, "Ahyuck, I'm up first."

However, he would soon be proven wrong as Minnie made her way down the hall towards Mickey's room, humming her earlier tune. She just had to wish the other mouse a good morning at the very least. Besides, for all she knew, he probably needed more reassurance. She swore to herself that after visiting him, she would order the guards to locate the whereabouts of Peteland.

But when the princess entered Mickey's room, she found a shocking sight. There was no one there. Mickey was gone. But maybe this wasn't as bad as Minnie thought it was.

With that in mind, the princess simply giggled, "Oh, he must be at work already," but just as she was about to leave, Goofy suddenly burst in shouting, "RISE AND SHINE, MICKEY!" Minnie covering her ears while the dog blinked and laughed, "Ahyuck, you're not Mickey!"

Minnie nodded, still cringing a little from the loud yell as she said, "Wait, you're one of Mickey's friends, right?"

"Last I checked, I was," the jester replied as Minnie said, "I take it you haven't seen him either?"

"Nope," Goofy replied, "He's usually at work before anyone else even wakes up, but he wasn't at his work stay-shione today."

This was a bit alarming. If Mickey wasn't in his room or in the basement, where could he be? But this was no cause for alarm. After all, the castle was huge. For all they knew, Mickey was probably somewhere else.

"Perhaps Donald could help us find him," Goofy suggested, "Knowing him, he's probably still asleep."

With that in mind, the two rushed off to Donald's room, which was only four doors down from Mickey's and opened it up, the two surprised to see that he wasn't there either. Goofy simply stated, "Perhaps he's off somewhere else too," as Minnie noticed the duck's clock on the ground, broken. The only assumption that came to mind was that Donald must have accidentally knocked it off his counter when he woke up that morning. Had he done it earlier, the room inspectors would have disposed of it and replaced it with a new one. Yes, the kingdom had room inspectors... don't ask.

The scary thing was that the clock was stuck on 5:05. Still, whether or not Donald really knocked it off his counter the minute he woke up was nothing more than mere assumption.

Unbeknownst to them, the very peasants they were looking for were still travelling through the forest, the snake following them close behind, making sure to stay hidden amongst the large bushes that covered the area. It hid behind trees whenever it felt that it was going to be spotted.

Donald lightly tapped Mickey on the shoulder while the mouse continued to look around for some kind of clue before turning to the duck and asking, "What's on your mind, Donald?"

"I feel something, Mickey," the duck replied, a look of worry on his face, "It's like there's something following us."

The snake's eyes went wide at the sound of that as it ducked down behind another bush, Mickey staring at Donald asking, "Did you hit your head or something? It's not like you to be scared."

Donald laughed nervously as Mickey did have a point. The duck had always been hard-headed. To see him like this was very odd to say the least.

"Besides," Mickey added, "Do you think I'm not a bit scared myself?"

With that, Mickey stood atop a stump, the snake laying in wait, readying itself to pounce while the mouse stated, "Look at this vast world that lays before us! There could be more that's yet to come! It might be troublesome or even scary, but all will fall if we ever fuss!"

Mickey leaped on a tree branch while Donald followed close behind, the snake leaping out of the bush only to miss Donald by a mere second, one against slamming his head up against a tree. While climbing the tree, Mickey starting to fling himself from branch to branch adding, "The world is big, that's a well known fact! Our destination may be far ahead!"

With that, he flung himself off a branch, performing a flip as he landed perfectly atop a stone saying, "But you must remember to leave your fear behind or you could wind up dead," Donald doing the same only to land face-first against the stone, some of his teeth falling out.

"Nothing will stand in our way if we look inside," Mickey stated, the snake slithering in front of him and growling, Mickey's head turned away from it as he used its face as a stepping stone, Donald somehow not seeing it himself and following close behind while the mouse added, "As long as our hearts are strong, there's no need for us to ever hide!"

The snake fumed at the head, now agitated as the two of them marched along its back until they reached the end, leaping off of it while the snake quickly turned around, pursuing them again. Donald noticed an army of bugs flying toward him as he held up his fists, punching one away from him as the others followed, Donald feeling confident in himself not knowing that they only fled because of the snake following close behind.

"If we look down deep inside," Mickey stated, Donald now with a smile on his face, "we'll find the strength to win. What we lack in size outside we make up for within."

Donald nodded and added, "Nothing will stand in our way if we look inside. As long as we just believe, fate is ours to decide!" Mickey nodding and replying, "Right!"

The snake continued to follow them, slowly homing in on the two as Mickey placed a hand on Donald's shoulder saying, "Just as long as we believe we'll make it through and through. Nothing will ever bring us down as long as we show them what we can do."

Suddenly, the mouse heard a hissing noise, his eyes going wide as he turned around, placing his nails between his teeth. Donald whistled the tune as Mickey tapped him on the shoulder, now trembling, facing the snake and backing up.

Donald simply laughed hysterically saying, "Don't worry, Mickey. As long as we believe..." but stopped his statement when he turned his head around far enough to see what Mickey was looking at.

"RUN!" Mickey shouted as the snake opened its jaws, leaping at the two. Luckily, the two managed to run far enough forward for the snake to miss as its chin landed hard against the ground.

The two continued to flee for their lives as the snake shook its head, following close behind. Things got even more complicated when they noticed a big patch of spikes ahead of them. How could they possibly get over this?

Luckily, this question was soon answered as Mickey noticed a large tomato conveniently place in front of it, the mouse grabbing Donald's shoulder asking, "Can you balance yourself atop a ball?" Donald remarking, "What!" as Mickey leaped up onto the tomato, pulling Donald with him.

With that, the two started to move their legs quickly against the large fruit as it started to roll forward, moving over the briar patch as the snake stopped in front of it, hissing angrily. Just as Mickey and Donald looked back, breathing a sigh of relief, that relief soon ended as the snake ignored the danger it was putting itself in and started to slither across the needles, each one scraping up against its belly and causing the serpent pain. Nevertheless, the snake ignored the pain and advanced forward while the duo finally cleared the patch only to notice a wall mere seconds away from them.

"JUMP, DONALD!" Mickey shouted as Donald replied, "No need to tell me twice," the two leaping off of the tomato as it rolled into the wall, its contents splattering all over the section it hit.

However, while that crisis had been averted, there was still one that had to be dealt with. What were they going to do about the snake pursuing them? The two had reached a dead end. They had nowhere else to go.

While Mickey continued to tremble, an odd feeling came over Donald as he rose his fists, waving them around while shouting, "Alright, snake, put up your dukes!"

Mickey stared at the duck as if he was crazy. He knew very well that there was no way Donald could take on something as huge as that snake, and by the look of uncertainty on Donald's expression, it was clear that the sailor knew this as well. But what other choice did they have? They had to fight.

With that in mind, Donald started flailing his arms around while raving like a lunatic, charging at the snake as it grinned, preparing to pounce. However, before things could get out of hand, Mickey noticed what looked like a large red seed sticking out of the ground.

Out of curiosity, he lightly tapped one of the leaves as both started to spin, the seed rising up out of the ground as Mickey shouted, "Donald, come on!"

The duck stopped midway, turning to notice Mickey making his escape, then looked back at the snake, who was only a second away from pouncing. The duck didn't need to think twice about this. Just as the snake pounced at him, the duck leaped up over its head and grabbed onto Mickey's leg, the two rising up into the air while the snake rammed head-first into the wall, creating a large hole where the tomato had hit.

Mickey sighed with relief as Donald looked downward, laughing at the snake before spitting raspberries, turning his head away from him and laughing some more. However, his laughter came to an end when he felt something biting his tail feathers, Mickey rather alarmed by the fact that the seed seemed to be lowering towards the ground.

The mouse turned around, his eyes widening while Donald yelped in panic at the sight of the snake pulling on his tail, rage in its eyes. It was painfully obvious that this was one creature that never gave up.

Mickey looked around for something he could use while Donald continued to panic, the mouse noticing a small stone sticking out of the wall. Using his free foot, he quickly kicked the stone out thus causing it to fall on the snake's face, causing it to let go. However, what happened next was completely unexpected as the area surrounding the stone's original placement started to crack, soon shattering into large chunks of stone.

The stone fell atop the snake, crushing it underneath as a ghost that resembled Pete rose up from under the rubble. It seemed as if this snake was one of the demons created by King Pete, but of course Mickey and Donald didn't know that. They simply watched the ghost float past them as they looked at each other with confused expressions before shrugging, figuring it was best not to question anything right now.

The fact of the matter was they had defeated the snake and were on their way. Nothing could stop them now... or so they thought.


	4. Chapter 4

The Magical Quest

Note: Remember, I said I was altering the plot. I'm also altering some of the villain appearances, hence why the Pete Snake is so big in this story.

This was not good. Minnie and Goofy had sent out a search party all throughout the castle and to no avail. All sections had been checked, not a one overlooked. Even Richard and Daisy had been woken up by the guards in their pursuit to find Mickey and Donald.

Daisy walked to Mickey's room where Minnie and Goofy were waiting and yawned saying, "I was told I could find you here."

Richard followed close behind, barely managing to stay awake as he asked, "I say, my dear, why are the guards going about the castle disrupting everyone's beauty sleep?"

"Oh, it's awful, Daddy!" Minnie exclaimed, a tear running down her face, "Mickey and Donald have gone missing!"

"Pardon me, but who are you talking about here?" Richard replied as Daisy placed her hand against her chin asking, "Is Donald the name of that guy who keeps stalking me?"

"You're right on the ball park with that one!" Goofy replied, Minnie scowling as the jester as he blinked and asked, "What did I say?"

"Well, I say good riddance!" Daisy remarked, Richard still trying to remember who these people were. It wasn't as if he ever socialized with his subjects.

Minnie let out a sigh, slumping down on Mickey's bed and resting her hands against her chin. This was terrible. For all she knew, Mickey may have been kidnapped as well just for good measure. Then again, that wouldn't have made much sense. But still, where could he be?

At that very moment, an old canine wearing a blue robe walked over to the castle door and pulled on the door knocker, giving the entrance a couple of knocks. Richard snapped out of his train of thought as Minnie got up and exclaimed, "Maybe that's Mickey!" the others getting up from their seats as Goofy added, "Ahyuck, Donald too," the group running for the entrance... except for Richard who had gained way too much weight over the years to run.

As Minnie opened it, a smile on her face, her smile soon died when she saw the old man standing there and sighed, "Welcome to Magic Castle. What brings you here?"

"Minnie!" Daisy scolded, but the fashion expert knew why Minnie wasn't showing as much respect for the old man as she could have. Nevertheless, it was considered impolite to greet a guest with a lack of enthusiasm.

"Don't worry about it, Daisy," the old man replied, Daisy's eyes widening at the sound of this. How did the old man know her name? Most of the people who had lived in Magic Kingdom all their lives only knew of the duck's existence, not her name.

"I am Marlon. May I come inside?" the old man asked, "I have something I need to discuss with you."

Minnie sighed and replied, "Do come in, kind sir," Daisy still in shock while Goofy chuckled, "She's popular."

Mickey and Donald had finally made it to the top of the cliff as they breathed heavily, happy to be out of harm's way. They couldn't believe what they had just done. They had defeated a snake that was ten times their size. This was truly an incredible moment for them.

"There's not a doubt in my mind that's the worst we'll ever have to deal with," Mickey said, laughing as Donald joined into the laughter replying, "You said it!"

Mickey's eyes widened when he heard a rumbling sound, Donald hearing it too. During all of this, the two had completely forgotten that they hadn't had breakfast. As luck would have it, they had also stopped their flight in front of another giant tomato. It seemed things were finally looking up.

"Breakfast is served!" Mickey exclaimed, letting out another quick laugh as Donald pulled a bib out of his pocket, putting it on and saying, "Boy oh boy!"

While the two dove into the tomato, proceeding to feast upon it, a familiar figure hung upside down, his legs latched to a tree branch while he slept. It was, of course, Ingo, King Pete's second-in-command. He figured that without Pete around and with a big demon doing the work for him, it would be nice to take a nice long nap.

However, that nap soon ended as he heard the sound of tomato juice spraying all over the place. He grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the sight, a look of shock on his face.

"Those aren't forest residents," he said to himself, then pondering this he mumbled, "Those must be the royal guards sent to fetch the dog. But how could two mere little creatures such as them take care of the Pete Snake? I mean, I knew the beast had King Pete's intellect, but I didn't think it would be that useless."

Nevertheless, this was not a good sight. Ingo had to do something about this. The last thing he wanted was to be punished for not doing his job.

After devouring half of the tomato, Mickey patted his belly, letting out a small burp saying in a tired-sounding voice, "Alright, Donald, onward ho!" struggling to stay on his feet as he stumbled and fell flat on his face.

"Sure thing, Mickey!" Donald replied in a more unenthusiastic tone and fell backwards, landing on his rump. Clearly the two had a bellyache now and wouldn't be moving any time soon.

"What say we rest this off first?" Mickey suggested through deep breaths, Donald nodding in response and falling asleep.

Ingo looked at this and slapped his forehead grumbling, "I can't take them like this! It just wouldn't feel like a real fight if I were to beat them while they're weakened!"

All-in-all, if they could defeat a huge snake, Ingo needed to be ready for this. As such, he hung upside down on the branch in wait. He would be ready once they approached him.

Back at the castle, Minnie's eyes were wide open as Marlon took a sip of tea saying, "And that's the gist of it."

"So let me get this straight," Daisy said, eyeing the old man suspiciously, "You're saying that Mickey and Donald fled the castle and are currently risking their lives to save that dog who got himself captured?"

"Yes," Marlon replied, nodding his head, "That's at least it in a nutshell. Those are some brave friends you have, Goofy."

Goofy blinked, panicking as he asked, "Whoa, how do you know my name!" Daisy rolling her eyes at the fact that Goofy had clearly not heard a thing that was said, Minnie eyeing the old man and stating, "That's actually a good point. How do you know all of this? You told us during that conversation that you just arrived in town this morning."

"I know a lot of things," Marlon said, chuckling as he pointed at the young girl adding, "I know that you have feeling for young Mickey, do you not?"

Goofy's eyes went wide as the jester asked, "Is that true?" Minnie nodding, her cheeks turning red as Marlon proceeded to say, "Daisy, I know that you secretly want to give Donald a chance," both Minnie and Goofy staring at her.

Daisy's eyes shifted back and forth as the girl remarked, "What are you talking about? I don't want anything to do with that guy!" Minnie chuckling and saying, "It's okay, Daisy," the fashion expert shaking her head and remarking, "I can't believe you would believe what this old coot is saying!"

Goofy chuckled while Marlon stated, "Goofy, I know that you're quite clumsy but also very good at heart," the jester letting out a light laugh saying, "Gorsh, most people don't notice that about me at first."

"You haven't answered my question," Minnie retorted, "HOW do you know all of this?"

The old man let out a sigh, nodding and saying, "If you must know, I am a wizard," the man conjuring up what looked like a mirror, the inside showing that Donald and Mickey were indeed in the forest, both covered in a red liquid and lying on the ground.

Minnie gasped at the sight of this, Goofy looking dumbfounded as Daisy nudged him, the jester soon realizing this was a cause for panic. However, Marlon simply chuckled, much to Minnie's dismay.

"My, your friends really couldn't help themselves, could they?" the old man quipped, the image in the mirror moving towards half a giant tomato, Minnie sighing with relief as Goofy chuckled, saying, "They're full."

Soon, the mirror vanished as Marlon sighed, "I'm afraid my magic isn't as strong as it used to be though," slumping down on the couch adding, "I could assist them right now if I still had my youth."

"Oh, that's alright," Minnie replied, patting the man on the shoulder, "I'm just glad you told us, Mr. Marlon, sir."

The princess then put on a serious expression saying, "We have to help them," Goofy and Daisy's eyes going wide, the two replying, "US!" while Minnie sighed, "Well, at the very least, I will!"

"But Minnie," Daisy pleaded, "It's too dangerous out there!" as the princess stated, "I don't care! His dog got kidnapped because of me! This is the least I can do!"

"WAIT!" Marlon shouted, Minnie stopping as the old man got up from his seat saying, "You can't go!"

"But..." the princess replied while Daisy placed a hand on her shoulder saying, "He's right, Minnie," Goofy nodding and adding, "Those two can take care of themselves. I know. They're my best friends."

Marlon chuckled and said, "I mean you can't go yet," the others staring at him as if he was crazy, the old man pulling out four rings, placing one around Minnie's finger saying, "These rings contain incredible power. With them, you can unlock some of the greatest abilities in existence. If you manage to catch up with Mickey and Donald, I want you to give them the other two rings," placing them in the princess' hand

Minnie nodded in understanding, Daisy asking, "Wait, if they get three of the rings, who's the last one for?" Marlon smiling and saying, "Why, it's for Goofy."

The jester's eyes went wide, his jaw dropped. Was the wizard serious about this?

"But Mr. Sore-see-air, I'm not a warrior," the dog replied as the wizard laughed and said, "You have optimism, something more people should have. That makes you more than qualified for this journey."

Daisy sighed and shook her head saying, "I guess there's no stopping you, is there?" Minnie giggling and saying, "I trust you'll take good care of my father while I'm away," the duck smiling and replying, "You can count on me."

But before the two could leave, there was one more thing the princess needed to know. As such, she turned to Marlon and asked, "Do you by chance know where Peteland is?"

"Yes, but you can't get there just by walking in the right direction," the wizard replied, Minnie confused as the old man nodded and added, "In each area is a statue that resembles King Pete's face. All you need to do is enter each one's mouth, for you see, each statue is a portal to another location. If you keep this up, you'll eventually find the one that will lead you to Peteland."

Minnie nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. Marlon," as Goofy let down a tear of joy saying, "Gorsh, I'm gonna be a hero."

And that was that. Daisy waved goodbye to them, a look of concern on her face while Marlon chuckled. He knew deep down inside that those two had what it took. There was no way he could have been wrong about this.

After a while, Mickey and Donald's bellyaches were gone as the two rose to their feet, each letting out a big yawn. They still had a long way to go before they were done.

"Remind me never to eat that much again, Donald," the mouse groaned, scratching his rear end while Donald let out another quick yawn saying, "Sure thing, buddy."

However, after only a few seconds, the two noticed a horrifying sight. It looked like a giant bat hanging upside down and sleeping, but what would a bat be doing in the middle of a forest?

The two figured it didn't really matter as Mickey turned to Donald letting out a soft, "Sh," before standing on the tips of his toes and slowly advancing forward, eyes on the sleeping bat. Donald turned around and did the same to the air as he stood on the tips of his webbed feet, mimicking Mickey's movement.

However, there were two problems with this. The first problem was that this creature wasn't really a bat. The second problem was that it wasn't sleeping.

The two were shocked when the creature spread his wings out, swooping down at them while the two barely leaped to the side in time to dodge the incoming strike. The demon laughed maniacally, turning to them and grinning wickedly.

Donald and Mickey both stared for some time, the mouse putting on a serious expression asking, "Who do you think you are!"

The demon let out another laugh before saying, "I am Ingo, King Pete's second in command, and I'm afraid you've reached the end of the line."

"King Pete!" Mickey remarked as Donald held up his fists shouting, "You picked the wrong guy to mess with!"

"I'm afraid you don't realize how dire your situation is," Ingo remarked, sighing, "It's a pity, really."

With that, the demon reached into the front of his overalls, pulling out a set of small round flying demons with tiny bat wings and faces that resembled his. Three of them flew over to Donald and picked the sailor up, handing him up against a tree branch by the collar.

"Hey, cut that out!" Mickey spat as the demons flew into him, knocking him on his back while Ingo laughed and retorted, "It seems you've both failed to understand just who you are dealing with! I'm the most evil fiend that you will ever see, and believe you me, I'm not a myth!"

With that, Ingo flew up atop another tree branch, his demons circling him while he continued to stated, "There's a reason why I work for Pete, and trust me, it's not my good looks," grinning while Donald and Mickey cringed in disgust, "I happen to be strong and very scary too, and I do things by my own book."

Mickey started to tremble while Donald tried to fight his way off of the branch but to no avail while the demon carried on, "You shouldn't have come this far. What were you expecting to do? Though I really do hate to brag, I know I'll be the one to end you!" Mickey grunting, "You're despicable!"

"I know," Ingo remarked as he took to the skies, his demons perched atop his shoulders as the branch holding up Donald snapped, the duck falling hard against the ground while the creature stated, "You've no idea what you've got yourselves in, you'll regret every little thing you've done!"

Mickey held up his fists, the demons once again flying at him and knocking him into the tree Donald had fallen out of while Ingo finished with the words, "What made you ever think that despite all of this, that you would have ever won!"

With that, the demon laughed insanely as Mickey turned to Donald with a look of worry, Donald gulping. Ingo truly seemed too powerful for them.


	5. Chapter 5

The Magical Quest

Mickey and Donald slowly climbed to their feet, Ingo sighing and shaking his head while his minions proceeded to fly into the pair, knocking them both into the same tree from before. Ingo laughed wickedly while the mouse and duck couldn't help but feel useless. So far, they were getting their butts handed to them. What could they do against an enemy like this? Not only could Ingo fly, he controlled a small army. There was no way the two of them alone could deal with that.

However, seeing the imp's confidence in his abilities gave Mickey a plan as he turned to Donald and winked, the duck smiling, realizing that the mouse had an idea. However, the duck's reassurance soon left him when Mickey rose to his feet and sighed, "I guess you're far too powerful for us."

"WHAT!" the sailor remarked while Ingo raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you giving yourselves up?"

Donald shook his head as Mickey shrugged, ignoring the duck's gesture and said, "Yep, we were fools to think we could deal with someone as smart and powerful as you."

All of this was music to the imp's ears as he grinned with pride, standing tall and proud while Mickey proceeded to say, "If anything, you should be the king of Peteland."

At that moment, Ingo froze, his eye twitching and his smile fading, the imp letting out a sigh and asking, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"W-whatever do you mean?" the mouse remarked, Donald still failing to understand what his friend was planning as Ingo pointed at Mickey, his demons once again ramming into him while Ingo flew in, delivering a kick to Donald's face, preventing the duck from possibly interfering.

"That plan would have probably worked on an imbecile," the imp stated, placing his hands against his hips, "However, I'm afraid to say that I am smarter than I look. You were going to trick me into letting my guard down with thoughts of overthrowing the king so you could defeat me."

While Ingo's minions held the mouse up against a tree, the mouse growled before retorting, "At least you're a wimp!"

Now, unlike the previous statement, this one actually had an effect on Ingo as he glared at the peasant asking, "Did you just call me a wimp!" Mickey nodding and saying, "Admit it, if it weren't for your little army here, you wouldn't be able to beat anyone!"

Donald panicked at the sound of this, noticing Ingo fuming in response to this. The duck started to tremble as Ingo grunted, clapping his hands as the demons flew atop a tree branch behind him.

"You'll soon see exactly why I'm second-in-command, you brat!" the demon exclaimed as he once against soared at Mickey, the mouse now ready as he simply leaped over the incoming demon, planing his feet hard into the back of Ingo's neck.

The imp cried out in pain as he fell hard against the ground, Mickey giving Donald thumbs up as the duck finally realized what was going on, a smile forming on his face. While the first plan may have failed, the second one certainly hadn't thus leaving Ingo helpless to defend against the two.

With that, both jumped toward Ingo planting their feet hard into his back, the imp crying out in pain once more while the duo stomped on him repeatedly. After all, they couldn't pass up a chance like this. Everything was finally going in their favour.

However, Ingo's demons couldn't sit back and allow this to happen, worried expressions forming on their faces. The imp was their master. Orders or no orders, they knew what they had to do.

With that, the demons flew towards the two, Mickey and Donald completely unprepared as both were sent tumbling into a pair of nearby trees. The demons then perched themselves beside their master, Ingo slowly regaining focus as he struggled to rise to his feet, soon regaining full control of his body as he breathed heavily, smiling at his minions.

"You may have defiled my orders, but I can't thank you enough," Ingo said while the demons all smiled at him, the imp proceeding to turn his gaze to Mickey and state, "As hard as it is to admit it, Mr. Mouse, you were right! I do need my minions for support, and to be perfectly honest, I am in no way ashamed of it!"

Mickey grumbled, slowly rising to his feet and breathing heavily, helping Donald up as the duck coughed up some dirt. Now that Ingo's minions were once again assisting him, what could the duo possibly do?

That question would have to wait as Ingo pointed at the two, his demons flying towards them once more. However, Mickey was no longer scared as he had a look of anger in his eyes. He was tired of this and he couldn't turn back now. After all, Pluto's freedom was on the line.

Donald noticed the mouse's look of confidence and put on a worried expression as Mickey said, "Donald, I got an idea, but it's easier said than done."

The duck pointed at the demons flying towards them while trembling, Mickey saying, "We'll take care of the demons first. That way, Ingo will be alone."

But how could they do that? The demons were too small and fast to hit. However, Mickey wasn't going to let this stop him as he held out his hands like a baseball glove, one of the demons flying directly into it, Mickey tightening his grip and rolling to the side, barely avoiding another all-out attack.

With that, Ingo and the demons' eyes went wide as Mickey hurled the minion at the other demons, the tossed one spinning and ramming into the others as they each fell to the ground. Donald's eyes sparkled at the sight of this. Maybe they did stand a chance. Besides, how could someone like Donald be scared of creatures that were smaller than him?

Ingo started to tremble, waving his hands in front of his face as he uttered, "Now, now, let's not be hasty here," while Mickey and Donald picked up a pair of demons each, holding each one up, Mickey putting on a look of confidence shouting, "OPEN FIRE!"

With that, the two hurled the demons towards Ingo, the imp panicking as all four rammed hard into him. The general realized that he had been beaten. There was no way he could possibly take these two. With that in mind, he took to the skies and flew in the opposite direction, Mickey and Donald nodding at one-another and running after him. Maybe if they followed him, he'd lead them to Peteland.

Ingo was in far too much panic to care whether they were tailing him or not as he spotted a stone structure just a few feet from him. It looked like a sphinx with Pete's face. Perhaps this was one of those Pete statues Marlon had spoken of, and it sure seemed that way as Ingo quickly flew into the open mouth on the statue, vanishing in a heartbeat.

Mickey and Donald both froze at the sight of this. Was there a tunnel hidden in that statue? It was clear as day even to one standing in front of that statue that it had a backside. However, now was not the time to question such things. Mickey knew right away that if that was where the imp was headed, surely it would lead him to Peteland. With that in mind, Mickey and Donald nodded at one-another and ran through the opening.

All the while, Minnie and Goofy were simply walking through the forest as Goofy looked around saying, "Ahyuck, pretty."

The princess, however, wasn't feeling nearly as positive as the jester was. What if Mickey had actually gotten himself killed? Let alone that thought, Minnie and Goofy possibly survive if they were to be attacked?

Goofy noticed the princess' expression and asked, "Hey, Princess, why are you so glum?"

Minnie sighed and remarked, "How can you ask a question like that? We're putting our lives in danger!" then looking down and taking a deep breath, she added, "We're doing exactly what Mickey and Donald are doing."

"Aw, cheer up!" Goofy replied, reaching for his back and pulling a lute out, Minnie staring at him asking, "Do you carry a lute with you all the time!"

"Lute?" Goofy remarked, looking at it and chuckled, asking, "Where did that come from?"

The jester then shrugged and started playing it and saying, "Perhaps some music will lighten the mood!"

Minnie stared at the jester in response to this. How was it that Goofy didn't seem to worry about anything? Let alone that she seriously doubted music would help.

While strumming the instrument, the jester laughed and started to sing, "When I was just a lad, cute as I could be, my momma approached me one day. Do you know what she said to me?"

Minnie's eyes shifted back and forth as she shrugged, Goofy continuing, "She said 'My boy, you're always positive, but others surely ain't. While things like dirt and spiders make you smile, those things make others faint! If you ever meet someone who is just like that, there's something you could do, even if it's, let's say, old hat.'"

Minnie continued to stare at the jester as he smiled, rearing his face closer to the princess and sang, "She told me there was something that could lighten any mood, and I'll let you in one what she said, it's actually quite good."

With that, he performed a back flip away from Minnie, losing his balance and hitting his head against a rock, still playing the lute as he lay on his back singing, "Give em all a little laugh, it'll brighten up their lives! It will please the boys and girls and husbands, even all the wives!"

Goofy rose to his feet and started to sway from side to side adding, "If you give em all a little laugh, it'll make all bad feelings go away. Give em all a little laugh and everything'll be okay!" the jester swaying right into a tree, his body twitching while he continued to play the lute, Minnie looking at this and chuckling a little.

"Things may not seem all that good, I must admit, it's true," Goofy quipped, regaining full control of himself, "It doesn't seem there's all that much that we can really do," a swarm of purple bugs flying into the area while he continued, "But if we can just laugh a bit, things won't seem so bad. Just give em all a little laugh and there's no need to be sad."

While Goofy continued to play, Minnie had a small smile on. It seemed as if this was working. As the jester strummed, the bugs flew over and picked up his hat, Goofy's eyes going wide, the dog turning to face the bugs and chuckling. He then continued strumming the lute with one of his feet, using his now-free hand to point at his head, signalling the bugs to return it.

The bugs then nodded at one-another, shoving it in Goofy's face. The dog chuckled, reaching to place the hat back on his head as the bugs took it away again, Goofy frowning while still playing the lute. The jester chased after the bugs as they taunted him with the hat, holding it in front of a tree as Goofy dove for it only for the bugs to fly out of the way, Goofy's face ramming into the tree, his face now trembling, some of his teeth shaking back and forth, making piano sounds, Minnie laughing hysterically at this all the while.

After the bugs let out a laugh of their own, they placed the jester hat back on Goofy's head as he said, "Thanks, fellas," and resumed strumming his instrument and singing, "Give em all a little laugh and bring light to a dark day! Why feel down in the dumps when you could just smile anyway?"

Minnie started to dance with Goofy as the two walked into the distance, the bugs following close behind while Goofy sang, "If you give em all a little laugh, life will no longer seem so bad, so give em all a little laugh and they'll have no reason to feel sad!"

However, things weren't all well and good. Sure, that Pete statue had taken Mickey and Donald somewhere, but it sure wasn't Peteland. They instead found themselves in another forest, this one much darker and more dank than the last one. There was barely any sunshine coming through the leaves and unlike the last place, this one gave off bad vibes.

To make things worse, it seemed Ingo had escaped. Mickey let out a sigh of disappointment. Maybe if they hadn't stopped to think, the imp wouldn't have gotten far enough. But on the plus side, they were on the right track... at least that's what they thought. And that being the case, they couldn't stop.

"Well, we've made it this far," Mickey said with a nervous smile as Donald nodded, forcing a smile of his own saying, "Yep, we sure have."

The truth was that both were scared. What if that huge snake wasn't the worst of their worries? What if there was far worse ahead? One thing was for sure: it was too late for them to turn back. It was as Mickey had said. They had gone too far to throw in the towel.


	6. Chapter 6

The Magical Quest

Ingo was slowly flying back to Pete's castle, looking down with shame. How could he face his master now? He had failed to stop two mere peasants. What could be more embarrassing? The demon noticed an open window to the throne room and sighed, making his way towards it. He had to face the music sooner or later.

Meanwhile, Pluto was in the back room lying down, a look of sadness on his face. At this point, the dog couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever get out. Was anyone coming to rescue him? After all, they had only assumed he was Minnie's dog. For all he knew, the kingdom probably didn't care about him.

As Ingo entered, he noticed that Pete wasn't in the throne room. The demon blinked and said, "He must be in the dining hall. I guess I'll just kick back and wait for his return. No sense rushing punishment, yes?"

But as the demon held his arms up for a quick stretch, his eyes went wide as the door to the throne room opened up, Pete standing by the door. When he saw Ingo standing there, the king grinned and walked over to the demon.

"Why, welcome home, Ingo!" the man exclaimed, giving the demon a hard pat on the back, Ingo flipping forward and hitting his face against the floor, quickly returning to his feet. He was used to this kind of treatment by now.

All the while, Pluto could hear the conversation from the other room. After all, dogs had super-sensitive hearing. No wall could prevent the pet from hearing something close by.

"Sire..." Ingo said but was cut off as Pete proceeded to state, "The fact that you are here is good indeed as it can only mean one thing, that being the fact that the soldiers sent to rescue the dog have been dealt with."

Pluto's eyes went wide, the dog biting one of his ears nervously while Ingo laughed nervously, Pete turning to him with a bigger smile asking, "I mean, that is why you're here, right?"

"Actually, sir..." Ingo replied before explaining everything that had happened, Pluto listening in on the conversation, a smile forming on his face while his tail wagged. Perhaps there was hope for the canine after all.

"WHAT!" Pete retorted, his voice echoing all throughout the kingdom, "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT TWO MEASLY PEASANTS DEFEATED YOU AND MY GIANT SNAKE!"

"Uh, yes," Ingo replied, now trembling, "That's pretty much it in a nutshell."

Pete's look of anger turned to one of fear as he slumped down on his chair, eyes twitching. The king proceeded to place his hand against his head, clearly fighting a headache now, as Ingo closed his eyes, ready for whatever punishment came his way.

"You know what?" Pete asked, Ingo slowly opening one of his eyes as the king smiled and started to laugh, exclaiming, "This is perfect!"

"It... it is?" Ingo replied as the king nodded and stated, "Don't you see, Ingo? There's only two people trying to rescue this dog! They may have gotten lucky with my snake, but there's no way they can stand up to my other demons!"

Ingo couldn't argue with that as he simply joined Pete and laughed. He wasn't even going to mention a second time that they had beaten him. He was just glad that the king was happy.

However, the conversation didn't end there as Pete placed a firm grip against Ingo's head, the demon's eyes widening while the king held him up, a wide grin on his face as he said, "You're going to help again."

"But sire," Ingo replied as Pete sighed, "I know, I know, they beat you already, but what if I give you an even greater power?"

Ingo blinked and asked, "You mean you'll grant me more power?" as the king nodded and said, "I can't have them getting lucky again."

With that in mind, Pete held his hands up, a magical force coming from them and touching Ingo as his body started to transform. Ingo's wings vanished as his overalls were replaced by a male hula dress. The demon's body turned white, his nose changing from red to yellow. What's more was that now instead of a battle helmet, he instead had green hair that resembled a small bush.

After the transformation ended, Ingo blinked and stated, "I don't feel that much different," as what looked like a large vine came out of his hair in a spiral formation, latching itself to the ceiling.

Ingo's eyes went wide as he looked into a mirror, his jaw dropped as Pete laughed saying, "You can thank me later for the upgrade, Ingo, but first, you must go and stop those fools who dare oppose me!"

Ingo's eye continued to twitch as the king sighed, using his magic to warp the demon out of his throne room. What was the minion's problem?

As Ingo appeared in the forest, he placed his hands against his dress and let down tears. What kind of joke was this? It wasn't enough that Pete took his flight away, but he looked ridiculous now. How could anyone take him seriously? And that power to summon a vine from his head was even harder to take seriously. What kind of power was that? If anything, this seemed more like a downgrade. Perhaps the demon could master his new abilities in time for his next encounter.

We now return to Mickey and Donald who were simply trekking through the forest, unaware of where they were really going. Naturally, the two simply followed the path set before them. It really was their only lead. But how did they know it was leading them in the right direction? The truth was they didn't. They had gotten lucky before, but what about now?

Donald let out a sigh, looking back and forth as he noticed one of the leaves on a nearby tree move. The duck's eyes widened, as he rubbed them, looking back as the leaf was now back in its original position. He eyed it suspiciously while advancing forward, slowly turning his eyes away from it before turning around and shouting, "AHAH!" now shocked as the leaf was gone.

The duck blinked as Mickey turned to him and said, "Donald, now's not the time to mess around," the duck tugging on the back of the mouse's collar shouting, "But I just saw a leaf move!" Mickey blinking, shrugging and replying, "I didn't quite understand that, old buddy."

Thus was the disadvantage of having duck noises as one's way of speaking. The words never came out as clearly as they should have.

Donald grumbled, turning back to the tree to see a number of leaves gather together in one area, forming an evil face as the duck panicked, the leafs separating and flipping backwards to reveal that they weren't actually leaves, but rather bugs with leaf-shaped caps attached to the backs of their heads. The duck simply laughed at this, realizing how silly he was, Mickey freezing in his tracks. Donald bumped into him holding onto his beak and glaring at him only to see what had caused Mickey to stop.

Right in front of them was a river with giant fish with razor sharp teeth swimming around in it. Mickey gulped, trembling as he said, "This isn't too bad. We'll just walk around it," before noticing that any way around it had been blocked off by the trees.

"Oh no!" Donald groaned, setting himself down on his rear and placing his hand against his chin asking, "What are we gonna do?"

Mickey thought hard and let out a chuckle suggesting, "I know, I'll ride on your back and you can swim across!" Donald's eyes widening as the image of him literally being used as a raft came to mind, the duck glaring at the mouse as Mickey laughed nervously saying, "No, no, bad idea."

While the two continued to ponder this situation, Donald noticed something. There was a group of tree branches sticking out only slightly above where they were standing. Then the duck got an idea.

"I know!" Donald suggested, "We'll jump on those branches and get ourselves across!"

Mickey had a confused look, wondering where Donald was going with that and turned to direction of the water, noticing the tree branches the sailor had spoken of. Mickey laughed and patted the duck on the back saying, "That's not a bad plan at all. You're finally starting to show a little optimism, old pal."

Then with that, the two leaped atop the branches, bouncing on them as one of the fish poked its head up from out of the water, glaring at them and preparing to jump. However, just as it emerged, Donald and Mickey used the branch like a trampoline to jump onto the next one, the branch waving up and down and smacking the fish hard in the face, sending it back into the water.

While the two bounced from branch to branch, Mickey laughed and stated, "Look at this vast world that lays before us! There could be more that's yet to come! It might be troublesome or even scary, but all will fall if we ever fuss!"

Donald nodded as the two reached land, leaping gracefully upon the ground while the duck said, "The world is big, that's a well-known fact! Our destination may be far ahead!"

"Right!" Mickey replied, the two advancing forward while the leaf bugs continued to watch, Mickey performing a flip underneath a plant hanging from a tree saying, "We battled a giant snake and came out on top, he didn't stand a chance," the plant coming open as sparkles rained down on the mouse, Donald standing under one adding, "We also battled one of Pete's royal guards and came out on top with a heroic stance!" the plant coming open as sharp chest nuts fell on the duck's head much to his dismay.

The two started climbing the tree branch, the leaf bugs coming together to form living ropes while Mickey grabbed hold of one, Donald hanging onto the mouse's leg as they swung from branch to branch saying, "If we look deep down inside, we'll find the strength to win!"

Donald had a wide smile while adding, "What we lack in size outside we make up for within!"

With that, the two cleared the trees and ended up in a wide open field saying together, "Nothing will stand in our way if we look inside! As long as we just believe, fate is ours to decide! Just as long as we believe, we'll make it through and through! Nothing will ever bring us down as long as we show them what we can do!"

That said, the two laughed and headed off into the distance, the leaf bugs waving at them. Perhaps they could make it to the end.

Meanwhile, Minnie and Goofy had followed the exact path, Mickey and Donald had took, only unlike the mouse and duck duo, they had gotten a ride across the briar patch courtesy of the purple bugs that inhabited the forest.

Once the two were set down, Minnie bowed saying, "Thank you very much," as the bugs blushed and laughed in response. After all, it wasn't often that a bug would be thanked by a princess.

Goofy simply shook one's hand chuckling, "Ahyuck! You guys are alright!"

With that, the bugs took off waving at the two and wishing them the best of luck. Minnie was actually quite surprised. Not once had the two run into any real danger up to this point.

But as Minnie turned to face the path ahead, she was shocked by what she saw next. It looked like the body of a giant snake. Goofy turned around and noticed it as well, staring with shock as he slowly let out the word, "Massive..."

As the two stared at the sight, Minnie blinked and said, "Donald and Mickey must have been attacked by this creature," as Goofy nodded and said, "Looks like they beat it too."

Minnie breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of that. If the two could beat something this big, perhaps things weren't going so poorly for them. Perhaps they were still safe. However, one thing confused Minnie; how had the two gotten up the cliff-side before them? Goofy then noticed a pair of leaves attached to a big red object, curiosity getting the better of him as he flicked one of the leaves, both spinning around as the red object came out of the ground, taking to the skies.

"Goofy, you're a genius!" Minnie exclaimed as the jester blinked and asked, "I am?" the mouse noticing two others and activating the leaves of one, the seed rising up from the ground as the princess grabbed hold of it saying, "Goofy, you can use the other one to get up to the top of this cliff."

The dog chuckled and replied, "Imagine that," slapping his hand against one of the leaves on the other seed, both spinning around briefly, petering out seconds later. Goofy scowled at the sight of this, slapping the leaf again, both spinning for a few seconds before failing once more. The dog grimaced and kicked the leaf this time, the leaves finally started up for good, Goofy smiling at his handiwork before realizing the seed was rising without him. With that, the dog quickly grabbed onto it just in time to join Minnie at the top moments later.

With that, the two walked down the path once more while Minnie sighed, "I hope we find Mickey and Donald soon. What if they've gone really far ahead of us already? I really wish we'd known about this sooner."

"Aw, cheer up, Princess," Goofy replied, chuckling before adding, "I'm sure we'll find them."

Somehow, Minnie had a feeling Goofy might be right. Perhaps this wouldn't be as difficult as they thought it would be. After all, it seemed as if the mouse and duck duo had taken care of any obstacles that could have prevented Minnie and Goofy from moving forward. It looked like smooth sailing for them. One thing was for sure though: they had to find Mickey and Donald before things got really difficult for them.


	7. Chapter 7

The Magical Quest

While Mickey and Donald continued on their journey, Goofy and Minnie had also just recently entered the forest. They still had quite a ways to go, but one thing was for certain: they were close. Upon taking a few steps forward, Minnie started to tremble, Goofy munching on what looked like a pastry of sorts.

Minnie still couldn't bring herself to have the same kind of positive attitude the jester had. Not even one of his sight gags could help her now. There was just something about this particular forest that got to her.

"Ahyuck, want a doughnut?" Goofy asked, pulling one out of a small bag that he pulled out of nowhere, Minnie sighing, "Well, I am a little hungry."

Goofy chuckled and reached into the bag, but rather than pulling out a doughnut, he instead pulled out a baloney sandwich. The jester blinked at the sight of this, shrugged and handed it to Minnie anyway, the princess taking a bite out of it. It seemed even this hadn't quite calmed her down. If anything, all this food could have just as easily attracted unwanted attention.

Goofy looked at the tree and noticed many leaves, but panicked when he spotted six moving. He shook his head and blinked, noticing that the leaves hadn't moved at all. The dog then chuckled and said, "I must be hole-oos-a-na-jate-ing," turning away from the tree as the leaves moved again, Goofy turning for one last look only to notice the leaves had formed an evil smile on the tree.

When the leaves flipped upwards revealing themselves to be the caps of some small bugs, Goofy laughed again and said, "Ahyuck, leaf bugs," returning to his travels only to end up bumping into Minnie, the princess about to fall forward as the jester quickly grabbed onto the back of her collar, pulling her to safety.

"Thank you, Goofy," the princess said, then turned back to a river right in front of her. How were they to get across this? There were big trees blocking their path around it, so they had no choice but to cross it. And with a school of huge fish swimming around, Minnie wasn't sure what to do.

However, Goofy noticed big tree branches and leaped at one, Minnie's eyes widening at the sight only for her to calm down when she noticed that the jester was actually doing. Goofy was bouncing on one of the branches as he signalled Minnie to join him. However, this was short-lived as one of the fish jumped up, catching Goofy's teeth between its jaws and dragging him under the water.

"GOOFY!" Minnie cried out, and without a second thought, she simply dove in after him. Right now, nothing mattered more than his safety.

But when she was under the water, something strange happened. Her ring started to glow as soon her princess garments were replaced by what looked like a pink gown with a yellow princess's hat much like the ones in fairy tales, a yellow cape added for good measure. What was even stranger was that she had a bubble surrounding her head, but why? Well, that didn't seem to matter to Minnie as strange enough, she hadn't really noticed. She was too focused on saving Goofy right now.

With that in mind, she fought off the other fish coming at her. Each time she touched one, a light would shine from her pointing finger, a blast of energy sending each one flying. Again, Minnie failed to notice this as she was too focused on saving her friend.

Goofy looked as if he was about to drown when Minnie finally reached him, pulling on his arms and prying the jester's feet out of the fish's mouth, not even questioning why it had been so easy. However, the fish wasn't going to give up its meal so quickly as it swam after Minnie. However, just as the fish closed in, another blast of light shot from the princess's right pointing finger, sending the fish crashing into the sand below.

As Minnie finally resurfaced, the ring glowed once more as she returned to her regular attire, now soaking wet as she breathed heavily, Goofy spitting up a gallon of water. The jester looked over at Minnie and chuckled, "Gorsh, you saved my life."

Minnie smiled and replied through deep breaths, "What are friends for?"

The princess was now curious as to how she'd saved him. If anything, she had expected to get eaten herself, yet she'd fought off a group of fish without knowing it, not even as out of breath as she would have expected to be.

Well, one thing was for certain. The two needed to continue their journey if they wanted to find Mickey and Donald. Things would only get more difficult from here.

The mouse and duck were currently carrying on their journey, nothing really going wrong at the moment. Nearby, Ingo was attempting to hone his abilities and failed to notice the duo walk right past him. Pete wouldn't be happy about this, that's for sure.

Donald noticed a look of worry on Mickey's face as he patted the mouse on the shoulder asking, "What's wrong, Mickey?" the mouse letting out a sigh and replying, "I can't help wondering how the others must be doing without us. Surely they must have figured out we were gone by now. They might be worried. Can you imagine what Goofy would do without us around?"

Donald looked up dreamily and nodded saying, "I can't wait to reunite with Daisy," Mickey rolling his eyes and wondering if Minnie was okay.

All the while, Minnie and Goofy had cleared the river, the leaf bugs watching them go by, Minnie looking at her hands, wondering what exactly allowed her to fight off the fish so easily. As stated, her eyes were too focused on saving Goofy for her to notice anything out of the ordinary. She hadn't even taken note of her outfit change let alone the magic air bubble the allowed her to breathe, and at the very least, she should have noticed the strangeness in that. However, she was also worried about Mickey and it showed.

Goofy looked at the princess and noticed that once again, Minnie had a look of doubt on her face. The jester let out a sigh and pulled a small mallet out of his sleeve, bashing himself over the head with it, a dopey smile on his face. Minnie looked up at this, forced a weak smile then put on her worried look again.

The jester pondered this situation harder than ever before, which wasn't really saying much as he hardly ever thought remotely hard about anything previously. Then an idea came to him as he started to whistle a tune, Minnie looking up at him wondering what the jester was up to.

Then out of nowhere, the dog wrapped his arms around the mouse's neck, holding her close while stating, "Things might look dangerous and hopeless now. Just suck it up and face what you're afraid of."

Minnie forced his arm off of her as he placed another hand on her shoulder adding, "When things get at their worst, just look inside. Show the world just what you are made of!"

The princess put on a light smile, stating, "If I forget my troubles and believe too, there's nothing in this world I can't do!"

Goofy chuckled and nodded, replying, "There is no crooked bridge that you can't cross! You see a monster? I'm sure you can take it! Nothing will prevent you from making it to the end, not even spike-eed pit! You can't put yourself down!"

While the two advanced through the forest, doing a much better job than before, the leaf bugs giving them assistance, Minnie laughed and said, "There is no crooked bright that I can't cross!" Goofy nodding and adding, "You see a monster?" the princess stating, "I'm sure I can take it!"

With that, the two marched forward exclaiming together, "Nothing will prevent us from making it to the end, not even an acid-filled pit! We can't put ourselves down!"

But as Minnie's confidence had finally grown, the two of them had entered the area where Ingo was preparing himself. Finally, he had mastered his abilities as he let out a sigh of satisfaction saying, "Now I'll be ready when those fools show up," noticing two people standing before him adding, "Well, speak of the devil."

However, he noticed something odd. As Goofy and Minnie stood there staring, the demon grinned wickedly.

"Oh, forget the peasants!" he said fiendishly, "I have the princess right in front of me! So, didn't have faith in your servants, did you?"

Minnie looked at Goofy with a confused look as the jester simply shrugged. It wasn't like he knew what the demon was talking about.

"You know, those two peasants you sent to retrieve your dog were a real pain in my side," he stated, Minnie's eyes going wide, "But if I capture you, King Pete will be even more pleased! He may even promote me from second-in-command to ere to the throne!"

At that moment, Minnie gasped as she asked, "Did you just say you work for Pete?"

"Why, that'd be silly," Goofy replied, chuckling, "If he worked for Pete, then that would make him..." then pausing, the dog turned to face Ingo with fear shouting, "THE BAD GUY!"

"You're rather slow, aren't you?" Ingo remarked as Goofy shrugged, putting on an embarrassed smile.

"Look, we're looking for our friends!" Minnie spat, Ingo folding his arms while the princess continued, "If you don't move out of the way right now, we'll have to make you move!"

Ingo blinked and paused for a long time before realizing the princess was being serious, the demon breaking out into hysterics. Minnie folded her arms angrily, failing to see what was so funny as Ingo wiped a tear from his eye retorting, "A princess defeating me? Is this a game to you? I'm King Pete's general! Meanwhile, you're a pampered princess, and I seriously doubt anyone ever trained you to fight!"

Minnie angrily charged at the demon, Goofy biting onto his fingernails nervously while the princess rammed her fist hard into Ingo's face, the demon falling hard on his back, rubbing his jaw while the princess grinned with confidence stating, "Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I'm weak!" Goofy chuckling, "Ahyuck! Powerful little girl, ain't she?"

"Good," Ingo replied, slowly climbing to his feet as he cracked his knuckles and said, "Now I won't have to go easy on you."


	8. Chapter 8

The Magical Quest

This wasn't good at all. How were a princess and a jester supposed to defeat King Pete's second-in-command? Such a thought was ridiculous. However, Minnie needed to be confident now.

However, that confidence soon left her as the demon laughed, reaching into the front of his dress and pulling out a number of spherical objects with spikes surrounding them, hurling them at the group. Neither was prepared as one lodged itself into Minnie's shoulder, another into her knee while three others hit Goofy's arms. Both yelped in pain as Ingo took full advantage of this, shooting a vine out of his head as he latched to a tree branch, the imp swinging himself into Minnie, the girl rolling into Goofy, taking him with her as both slammed hard up against a tree.

"You know..." Ingo stated, holding his right hand up against his chin, "When King Pete gave me this new form, I thought that this was a downgrade of sorts. But seeing what this form is capable of, I can't help feeling this may have very well been a blessing in disguise," and with a sigh, the imp added, "Though I do miss my minions. I hope they're doing well."

Meanwhile, a group of small flying demons were on a cruise ship mopping floors as a bulldog wearing red pirate captain garments watched them, one demon turning to face another and groaning. The other let out a low grumbling noise as another tried to fly off the ship only to be shot down by the captain's pop gun.

But of course, this is a completely different story, so let's go back to our main one, shall we?

Ingo grinned wickedly as he said, "Now I have you right where I want you," as he detached a strap keeping his hula dress on and hurled it at the two victims before him, the dress's leaves sticking out like spikes while the clothing itself spun around like a buzz saw.

Minnie finally pried the two spiked balls out of her when she noticed the projectile coming straight for her. Sadly, Goofy hadn't yet recovered as he lay against the tree, his eyes spinning while he weakly let out the words, "May I please have some French Toast, Mama?"

Minnie gasped, not sure what to do now. She could dodge, but even if she did, Goofy would still probably be cut in half, and she had to think fast as the dress was closing in on the two. With that, Minnie did the only logical thing she could do right now: She whacked Goofy hard on the top of his head causing the jester to sink below the dress as the princess ducked under it, the article of clothing slicing right through the tree they were up against and causing it to topple over while a group of white worm-like creatures bounced out of the now fallen tree growling angrily at Ingo before bouncing away from the area.

After a few more seconds, the dress changed its course and headed back towards Ingo as it strapped itself around his waist, the demon laughing hysterically at the sight of this exclaiming, "WOW! WHAT POWER! IMAGINE IF THAT HAD ACTUALLY HIT YOU!"

The demon continued to laugh as Minnie scowled. She didn't see what was so funny. She could have been killed back there.

Nevertheless, the princess couldn't allow herself to fall for a trap like that again. How did she know she could avoid death a second time? With that in mind, she quickly charged towards Ingo as the demon let out a sigh, shooting another vine from his head and latching it to yet another branch, going in to strike. But rather than hitting the princess again, he ended up missing when Minnie leaped to the side, spinning her body around and planting a kick to the back of the imp's head.

Ingo growled and turned to the mouse, grabbing onto the front of her collar and gritting his teeth while saying, "You're a real pain in the neck, you know that? You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Minnie was confused by that last statement until the demon proceeded to shift his hand, now holding onto the girl's neck and holding tightly, Minnie letting out a gasp of pain. If this kept up, she could very well die.

But luck was on the girl's side as Goofy finally awoke, letting out a loud yawn and blinking before noticing Minnie's predicament. The jester's eyes went wide as he placed a flower onto the front of his outfit, squeezing it and sending a small bit of water into Ingo's left eye, the demon crying out in pain and releasing the princess, Minnie gasping for air. Now Goofy had saved her life.

Ingo rubbed his eye with fury in his expression, glaring at the jester and shouting, "THAT WASN'T FUNNY!"

"Well, nor is hurting my friends!" Goofy remarked with a serious look in his eyes, "Now, I may be a goof, and I may be clumsy, and quite frankly, I might not even be hero material, but I'm not stupid! I know when it's time to get serious!"

Ingo blinked and stared at Minnie who shrugged at him. Even she didn't understand the jester most of the time. However, Ingo didn't take the dog's challenge all that seriously as he laughed moments later, Goofy scowling and pulling out an assortment of rubber balls, juggling them.

As soon as Ingo stopped laughing, his eyes went wide as one ball slipped out of the jester's hand, hitting the demon hard between the eyes. This juggling act may have looked harmless, but Goofy had never quite mastered the art. It was still quite difficult for him to hold onto the balls, but hey, he wasn't the royal fool for nothing.

With that, Ingo growled and shot another vine from his head, swinging in for another strike as Goofy let fly another ball, hitting the imp hard in the gut, a second ball soaring into the demon's forehead and knocking him backwards. As if this hadn't been humiliating enough, Goofy proceeded to let loose the last two rubber balls, both flying into the tree above Ingo.

"Hah, you missed!" the imp taunted as a plant in the tree opened up, dropping three chestnuts onto the demon's head, Ingo grumbling mild curses under his breath.

But it didn't end there as Goofy charged towards Ingo. The demon simply grinned wickedly knowing that Goofy had now left himself defenceless. With that in mind, the demon readied his hula dress, Minnie covering her eyes in fear knowing this could very well end the jester's life, but much to her and Ingo's shock, Goofy ended up running too fast and rammed hard into Ingo's belly, the demon flying hard into another tree, more chestnuts falling on him.

The jester simply looked at his handiwork and chuckled, "Ahyuck, rocket shoes," while Ingo fumed, filling up with incredible anger. How could he be losing to a fool? It was one thing to lose to a princess, it was another to lose to a man whose job it was to make people laugh at his own buffoonery.

With that in mind, the demon slowly rose to his feet and tilted his head forward, releasing the vine from his head once more and latching it to a tree behind Minnie and Goofy. The two were confused by this action as the demon proceeded to reel himself toward the tree, holding his arms out and hooking the duo in the neck, holding them each in front of him while ramming their backs hard into said tree.

The imp let out a sigh of relief before readying his dress saying, "You're both more trouble than you're worth, but I'm afraid it's time to end this."

However, just as he released the blade, Minnie and Goofy's rings both started to glow, Minnie now sporting the wizard's outfit she'd had on when facing the fish. Goofy, however, was wearing what looked like underwear made from cloth and a turban.

Just as the projectile was about to strike, Minnie subconsciously fired a blast of energy, deflecting it back at its owner, the dress reattaching itself to Ingo, the demon's eyes going wide. The princess then blinked and looked down at the gown she was now wearing, a look of confusion in her eyes.

"Hey, where'd you get the new clothes?" Goofy asked as Minnie looked up at the man asking, "Where did your clothes go?"

Goofy blinked and looked down to notice he was wearing next to nothing, letting out a chuckle as Ingo grimaced. Then Minnie smiled and said, "Hey, Goofy, maybe this is the great power Marlon was talking about."

With that, Minnie pointed her finger at Ingo who started to panic when a blast of light came from the princess's finger, the demon narrowly dodging it as another magic blast hit him hard in the chest and sending him back a ways. Goofy then proceeded to reach into the front of his bottoms and pulled out a flaming baton, sticking the flaming end into his mouth before pulling it out, blowing a blast of fire into the imp as his hula dress caught flame, burning to the ground. It was as if the two instinctively knew how to use their new abilities.

Ingo's eyes were wide with fear as he looked down, noticing his strongest weapon now gone as he shouted, "You haven't heard the last of me!" taking off from the area, Minnie sighing with relief. Finally, it was all over.

At that very moment, Minnie and Goofy's new clothes vanished as did their new abilities. Minnie could no longer shoot magic from her fingertips nor did Goofy have his flaming batons. But right now, none of that mattered. The point was they had beaten Ingo and could now advance forward.

All the while, Mickey and Donald had travelled quite a ways from the jester and princess when Donald noticed a tree full of fruit. He tapped on Mickey's shoulder and pointed at the tree as the mouse turned his gaze towards where the duck was pointing and laughed.

"Good thinking, Donald!" the peasant exclaimed, "We could use some extra provisions for later."

The duck nodded and attempted to climb up the tree but ended up sliding down, Mickey laughing against and saying, "Here, buddy, I'll give you a boost."

With that, the mouse lifted up Donald by his feet. However, the duck still couldn't reach high enough. With that in mind, Mickey stood on the tips of his toes for support. Realizing this still wasn't enough, Donald did the same, almost grabbing a piece of fruit when Mickey lost his balance and the two fell to the ground.

Donald folded his arms, glaring at the mouse as Mickey grinned nervously and said, "Uh... oops?"

Despite it seeming hopeless, the two refused to give up as they tried again, Donald actually grabbing the fruit this time around as Mickey once again lost his balance, the two falling yet again. However, at least they had food now.

Unfortunately, this wasn't exactly the best of news as Mickey sniffed it and stuck out his tongue in disgust. He then tossed it to the side as a group of leaf bugs surrounded it. Unfortunately for them, the fruit was rotten.

"Well, look on the bright side," Mickey said to a discouraged Donald, "At least the other fruit should be ripe."

The duck simply folded his arms and cursed, "AW, PHOOEY!" realizing he'd have to endanger himself again to get another fruit. As if that wasn't bad enough, every other fruit was higher up than the one they had just gotten.

However, luck soon struck the two as a wide array of rubber balls flew at branches, knocking the fruit from each of them as Mickey smiled, refusing to question this while he and Donald caught a whole bunch. Mickey placed a few in his pockets and back pockets while Donald pulled a bag out from behind his back, dropping the fruit into that.

While the two celebrated, they suddenly noticed two familiar faces right before them, their eyes going wide. Mickey's face turned red as he gulped and asked, "P-P-Princess Minnie, why are you all the way out here?"

"Goofy!" Donald quipped, the dog chuckling, "Gorsh, you guys don't look happy to see us."

Mickey and Donald ran over to Goofy and embraced him, the jester falling to the ground as he stated, "Ahyuck! That's more like it."

Minnie chuckled at the sight of this as Mickey and Donald got up, bowing to her as the princess sighed and said, "You don't need to treat me so formally. We came all this way to help you, after all."

At the sound of that, Mickey and Donald were silent. Were they hearing this right? The two turned to Goofy who nodded.

"No!" Mickey shouted, "You shouldn't have come all this way out here!"

"Yeah!" Donald added, folding his arms while Minnie fumed and retorted, "And why not!"

"Well..." Mickey replied, looking for the right words then stating, "It's too dangerous for a princess! You could get killed! And besides, Goofy's not a fighter."

Goofy had a clueless expression on his face as Minnie folded her arms and put on a smile replying in a sarcastic tone, "Oh, you're right. I totally shouldn't have come all the way here with these rings of power to help you out in your quest," holding out the remaining two rings, Mickey and Donald's eyes going wide while the princess added, "And it really is dangerous out here, what with that demon we just defeated a little while ago."

The two couldn't believe their ears. A princess and a jester defeated a demon? And what was this about rings?

Mickey then shook his head and remarked, "Look, I don't want you to get hurt! You should just go back! Pluto's my dog! This isn't your problem!"

Minnie's jaw dropped as Mickey and Donald turned their backs to her, advancing forward, the princess glaring at Goofy for not saying anything. However, things took a turn for worse when a bit of the ground beneath the mouse and the duck opened up to reveal a big pit, the two hanging onto a ledge for dear life.

Minnie walked over and held her hands against her side asking, "Would you brave, strong men like some help?"

Mickey let out a sigh and said, "Okay, sorry about all the things I said. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Minnie sighed, her face turning red briefly. As judgemental as Mickey had been a while ago, he was only thinking about the princess's safety ahead of his. It was sweet... though uncalled for all the same.

With that, Goofy snapped out of his clueless state and gasped, shouting, "DON'T WORRY, I'LL SAVE YOU!" only to trip over his right foot, rolling into Minnie as all four fell into the pit, the dog letting out a loud, "YAAAAAAAAAHOOHOOHOOHOY!"

However, things were looking up as their fall came to a halt. However, this wasn't such a good thing as the group had landed on a large spider web.

Goofy grinned nervously, shrugging and saying, "Sorry," the others scowling at him before their looks of anger turned to fear, a large tarantula making its way towards them from a small opening next to the web. To make matters worse, this wasn't just any spider either. Not only was it six times Goofy's size, it had a head that resembled Pete's. Clearly this was another one of the king's demons.


	9. Chapter 9

The Magical Quest

This wasn't good at all. It seemed as if everything was over now. How could two mice, a duck and a dog defeat a giant spider? As if this wasn't bad enough, they were all caught in its web, so they couldn't escape either.

As the spider closed in, Mickey let out a disappointed sigh and said, "Well, guys, I guess this is it," then looking down, he let down a tear. He had failed to save his best friend.

Goofy simply chuckled and replied, "Ahyuck, it's not over yet!" then holding up the hand with the ring on it, he shouted, "We got our magic ringies!"

Everyone paused, even the spider now frozen with fear, watching in anticipation only for nothing to happen. Goofy started to shake it, grumbling while once again, the ring did nothing. But why? Why wasn't it changing his form?

"Why isn't it working!" Minnie asked, then looking at her own ring, she let out a sigh and said, "Mine won't work either."

The spider got bored of waiting and turned itself around, shooting thread around the jester, trapping him in a sac made of web. The others started to panic while the spider walked toward Goofy, opening its mouth while the jester gulped.

Then it hit Minnie. What if the rings' power was limited? What if they weren't working because they had been used recently? This meant only Mickey and Donald could use them now, and luckily, their hands were at least free and Minnie was close to them.

"Quick, Mickey, Donald, put these on!" she exclaimed, forcing a ring around each one's finger as both glowed. As the bright light shone, the mouse and duck felt a great change within them. As the light faded, both were wearing entirely different outfits.

Mickey was now dressed in a red outfit, pants, jacket and all. Along with that, he also sported a yellow cape and a pair of golden Arabian shoes, and to top it all off, he had on his head a turban with a red gemstone in the middle.

Donald's look was a lot different as rather than wearing an elegant outfit, he instead had a large barrel covering his body. Atop his head was the most interesting of war helmets... a cooking pot! But in his hand, he held quite possibly the most interesting of weapons! That, folks, was a fairly large yellow and red mallet.

Mickey looked at his hands, feet and back as he laughed, "Wow, those rings really do contain magical properties."

"Yeah!" Donald replied excitedly, a proud smile on his face as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and the spider, who halted his meal just for this moment, stared at the duck.

Neither one of them could help him/herself. All four of them broke out into hysterics as Donald growled asking, "What's so funny?" then noticed the mallet, looking down and seeing he was wearing nothing but a barrel. The duck's face turned red as he whined, "Why can't I have a cool look?"

But that didn't matter right now. The spider had snapped out of its laughing fit as it opened its mouth again, ready to devour Goofy. But Mickey wouldn't stand for this. Much like Minnie and Goofy, it seemed as if his abilities had just come to him by instinct as he charged up energy in his finger, firing a shot of magic into the spider's face, sending it flying into the wall, the spider cringing in pain.

Goofy whistled and said, "Gorsh," as the spider regained focus, shaking the pain off of its head. Mickey's eyes widened as he sent blast after blast, but having not charged up his magic this time around, his magic wasn't quite as strong this time around as it only dealt minor pain to the arachnid.

However, Donald wasn't going to stand for this. Cool look or no cool look, he couldn't sit back and do nothing. With that in mind, the duck crouched down, his entire body sinking into the barrel. Before anyone could question this, Donald proceeded to tilt himself over on his side. It seemed as if the barrel was immune to the web's material because it rolled easily across the web, only even picking up the silk that made it.

Once Donald was close enough, he rose up out of the barrel and planted his mallet hard into the spider's head, the bug grimacing as Mickey noticed the spider standing a slight bit away from the others, and with Donald able to move across the web, what was stopping the mouse now?

As such, Mickey charged up all the magic he had left, sending a burst of light towards one of the spider's feet. The beast saw this coming and lifted up its foot, the magic blast missing and putting a hole in the web instead.

Mickey smiled proudly while Minnie stared at the male mouse with a look of confusion, the mouse pointing as the spider placed its leg back down, the leg falling through the hole the magic blast had created. Donald saw this as a perfect opportunity, beating the spider over the head repeatedly with his mallet under the web started to open up, the spider soon falling through the now large hole.

Goofy simply looked down and chuckled, "Ahyuck! Clever," and waited for twenty seconds until all four could hear a loud thud. Just imagine if they had been the ones to land down there.

However, all four were rather confused when they saw a ghost that resembled a fat cat rising up from where the spider had landed, but that didn't matter right now. The point was that they needed to get out of this pit now. Perhaps the hole the spider had entered from led to a way out.

Of course, there was the fact that only Donald could move across the web right now. As such, he pried the others off of the web as all four headed through the hole, Goofy being carried by Mickey.

Meanwhile, Ingo had returned to the castle, a look of fear in his eyes. He sighed and looked at the ground, slowly making his way into the castle. Without his wings, he couldn't fly in like he often did.

"Oh, he's going to kill me," the imp said to himself, walking down the hallway, the guards all giving him an army salute, some secretly laughing at the fact that he had nothing on.

The demon eventually entered the throne room where he saw Pete sitting on his throne, one of the guards exiting the room where Pluto was being held. Upon seeing his trusted general, Pete smiled and said, "Well, Ingo, you finished the job rather quickly, didn't you?"

Ingo looked down with shame and shook his head, Pete covering his face with his left hand and groaning, "They beat you again, didn't they?"

Ingo let out a sigh and replied, "It wasn't them this time. Turns out the princess and the court jester showed are looking for the dog as well. See, I figured I could kidnap them, then those two peasants would turn themselves in, but they ended up overpowering me."

Pete's eye twitched, Ingo embracing himself as the king sighed, got up from his chair, glared angrily at his general and spat, "YOU LOST TO THE PRINCESS AND A FOOL!"

Ingo trembled in terror, shouting, "But you don't understand, sire! They had these magic rings that gave them super powers or something! I almost had them!" then noticing Pete still angry, the demon added, "THEY BURNT MY MAN DRESS!"

"ENOUGH!" Pete retorted, grabbing Ingo by the throat before taking a deep breath, placing the demon down while Ingo held his neck, the king saying, "Well, it doesn't really matter. I still have my demons. Although I must say, Ingo, I am highly disappointed in you."

A tear fell down the imp's face upon hearing this as the king continued, "I expected so much better from my future successor. I was originally going to make you the ere to the throne."

Ingo's eyes went wide at the sound of this, his jaw dropped while the king added, "But it seems you're just not capable of handling such a task. I'm afraid you're just going to have to sit this next one out."

Ingo gritted his teeth, trying his hardest to suppress his anger. It wasn't as if the demon hadn't tried. He couldn't take it anymore.

With that, he glared at Pete and snapped, "YOU KNOW WHAT! IF YOU'RE SO GREAT, WHY DON'T YOU GO AND DEAL WITH THEM INSTEAD, HUH!"

Pete's eyes went wide while the demon continued, "Sure, you summon the demons to attack them, but you're still not doing anything to help! You're still relying on others to do the job for you! Why? Because you're a fat, lazy cat who can't do a thing for himself!"

The king was spellbound as the demon added, "What's more is that you're stupid! There, I said it! You are an imbecile! Oh yeah, and Peteland! THAT'S THE STUPIDEST NAME I'VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!"

Ingo breathed heavily as Pete blinked, unsure of how to react to this. Could what the demon said be true?

Ingo wiped some sweat off of his forehead placing his hands against his mouth, then lowering them he let out a weak, "Sorry, your highness. I have no idea what came over me."

"Oh, it's alright," Pete replied, patting the demon on the shoulder, "Everyone has a bad day. Unfortunately, you're still unfit to be a leader of any sort."

"What are you saying, your majesty?" Ingo replied as Pete stated, "I'm saying you've been demoted, pal," Ingo's eyes going wide, tears running down his eyes while the king continued, "You will no longer be my second-in-command, but rather one of the royal guards. You're about at their level in terms of fighting abilities. It only seems fit."

The imp bit his lip, trying his hardest not to cry right now. It would have been degrading to let loose a series of waterworks in front of the king, after all. As if the demotion couldn't have been any worse, Pete used his magic to replace Ingo's look with a run-down one. Now Ingo had greasy short hair atop his head and was wearing a soldier's outfit. To a peasant, this would have been a dubious honour, but for a general, this was the biggest disgrace of all.

"You may leave now," Pete said, signalling Ingo out of the room as the demon clung onto the king's leg shouting, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I'VE BEEN YOUR GENERAL FOR FIVE YEARS!"

"Sorry," Pete replied, shrugging, "Them's the breaks, kid," as Ingo released his grip on the king, slowly exiting the room.

As he sulked down the hallway, many guards stared at him, refusing to believe that was Ingo they were looking at right now. Even they couldn't believe that he had been demoted. While they may not all have liked him, they knew he was a much better fighter than they were.

As Ingo made his way into his sleeping quarters, he let out a sigh and lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling and saying, "One minute you're way up there with the greatest of men. The next it's all over, what can you do then? You're at the top of the world, and then everything falls."

Taking a deep breath, he let down a tear adding, "You can try your hardest. It's hopeless all-in-all."

With that, the demon got up from his bed and opened the door, once again walking slowly down the hallway with his head down saying, "I worked really hard," one of the guards adding, "He really did so," Ingo stating, "I did try my best," another guard nodding and saying, "He really did his best."

"Only to lose it all and end up one of the rest!" Ingo exclaimed, a look of anger in his eyes before he sighed and looked down sighing, "What if Mom or my dad saw where I am right now? How could I explain? Oh, lord, tell me how?"

With that, the demon entered the storage room for the rest of his battle gear that Pete hadn't provided him with, only to notice something. It was Pete's book of spells, sitting right there, unguarded. Ingo didn't need to think twice. He quickly ran over to it, opening it up and flipping through the pages, noticing the transformation spell. But he couldn't perform magic, could he? Well, it was worth a try.

The demon cleared his throat and held his arms up, citing the words on the paper as a light surrounded him. As the light faded, he now had a silver crown atop his head and a large metal hammer in hand. He also had green bottoms like the ones the Native ancestors used for combat back in the old days. What's more was that his body was now red as he laughed wickedly.

With that, he ran down the hallway, the guards all watching him run by with looks of hope on their faces as the imp shouted, "He'll have no reason to look down on me! The ere to the throne is what I'm meant to be!"

Then exiting the castle, a group of bats flew around him while he yelled to the heavens, "Once I've proven my worth, King Pete will kiss my feet! I will never go down, I will never be beat!"

Then with that, the demon took off into the night, now more ready than ever to face Mickey and his friends. He wasn't going to let Pete down again.


	10. Chapter 10

The Magical Quest

As Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Goofy, who was now free from the web sac, carried on towards Pete's castle, Minnie told the two peasants why she had come. She told of Marlon and the exact words he spoke to her. She told of how Marlon had given her the magic rings and told her to give the remaining two to Mickey and Donald. This was quite a bit to take in, but the mouse and duck understood perfectly.

"Well, the rings certainly came in handy," Mickey replied with a chuckle, "But did Marlon happen to know the way to Pete's castle?"

"He said something about Pete statues," the princess stated, "He told us that if we enter those, we'll eventually reach the kingdom."

Mickey smiled and nodded while saying, "He must have been referring to the statue that sent us here."

While the two continued to talk, Donald and Goofy walked close behind them while having their own little conversation. Donald looked as if he was blushing while Goofy was chuckling.

"So Daisy really likes me?" Donald asked as the jester nodded and replied, "Ahyuck, according to Marlon, she's just pretending to hate you."

Donald let out a sigh of satisfaction when the group noticed a Pete statue dead ahead. The leaf bugs simply watched from the back while the four of them entered, not sure where they would end up.

Soon enough, all four found themselves in a much more dangerous climate. The ground was made up entirely of stone while a river of lava and fire surrounded their path. Literally, there were areas where fire was just shooting up out of the ground. Why? Did there even have to be a reason?

Inhabiting the area were a group of bats made entirely out of fire, and unlike the bugs, they were out in the open and just flying around freely. Mickey was just relieved they weren't attacking him and the others right now.

"Gorsh, it sure is hot here," Goofy stated, taking off his hat and wiping some sweat off of his forehead, the others glaring at him as if to say 'thank you, Captain Obvious'.

Donald looked at the fire while his eye twitched, Minnie also with a look of fear. Mickey tried to stay positive, but even he had to admit this was a frightening place. At least they had a path leading them forward.

While the four carried on, trying their best to forget that they were surrounded by a liquid that could potentially kill them if they touched it, they ended up before an entire pit of fire. As if that wasn't bad enough, there were small holes in a big rock next to it shooting fire out of them.

Mickey put on a look of disappointed and sighed, "Well, it seems this is it. We can't go anywhere from here."

"Gorsh, Mickey, we could just jump across," Goofy suggested while Minnie patted the jester on the shoulder and shook her head saying, "Goofy, all the optimism in the world can't get us past this. That pit's too big and there's fire shooting from the walls."

Donald let out a sigh and groaned, "It figures," as Goofy put on a serious look stating, "Look, I know we can get across!" then pointed at a set of stone heads just conveniently floating up and down. Well, despite the improbability of it all, the group now had a way to cross. However, the platforms were moving in a set pattern. They had to time their jumps just right.

Goofy simply leaped atop one without a second thought and skipped happily across while waving at the others upon reaching the other side. The three stared at this, looked at one another and smiled, their confidence returning.

While they skipped from stone head to stone head, Goofy let out a chuckle and said, "Look at this vast world that lays before us! There could be more that's yet to come!"

The others reached the other side, Mickey nodding and adding, "It might be troublesome or even scary, but all will fall if we ever fuss!"

Minnie smiled and placed a hand on Mickey's shoulder stating, "The world is big, it's a well-known fact! Our destination might be far ahead!"

While the group continued to avoid fire, leaping from platform to platform and jumping over pits of lava and fire, Donald grinned with pride saying, "We battled a snake and came out on top, he didn't stand a chance. We also faced one of Pete's royal guards and came out on top with a heroic stance."

"Recently we faced a giant spider that had fear running through us all," Minnie explained, "But despite that, we faced our fears and that arachnid had a very big fall!"

Goofy laughed and pet a fire bat on the head, ignoring the pain in his hand afterwards and said, "If we look deep down inside, we'll find the strength to win. What we lack in size outside we make up for within."

As the four kept going forward, they all smiled while stating, "Nothing will stand in our way if we look inside! As long as we just believe, fate is ours to decide! Just as long as we believe, we'll make it through and through! Nothing will ever bring us down as long as we show them what we can do!"

But as the group progressed, Minnie felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, soon passing out. Mickey turned to her with concern until he was struck on the back of the head as well. Donald held up his fists only to find himself knocked down, Goofy unable to so much as prepare himself as he joined them.

A few moments later, Mickey opened his eyes to notice a group of small red creatures wearing leaf dresses dancing around a big flaming geyser. The mouse then looked down and noticed that he was in water, soon noticing a rim around said water. They were in a stew pot!

"Guys, wake up," Mickey whispered as the others soon awoke, spotting the same sights Mickey had seen and panicking... well, except for Goofy who simply sipped some of the water and said, "Ahyuck, tastes like me," his eyes then widening as he shouted, "TASTES LIKE ME!"

"We're gonna be dinner!" Donald exclaimed as he tried to escape but couldn't. Naturally, these strange beings had tied them up before putting them in the pot. They weren't going anyway.

"Guess this is the end," Mickey said with a gulp, Minnie sighing, "Mickey, before we die, I want you to know something."

But before she could say it, another red creature, this one wearing a head dress, stood tall before the others and held up his hands, the creatures bowing. This must have been their chief. He then proceeded to lower his hands before lifting his right one back up shouting, "DANCE TIME!"

Some of the creatures started to beat the tops of rocks creating a beat while the others looked at one-another, Mickey asking, "Did he just say... dance time?"

The creatures began dancing even more quickly while the chief held up both hands, the creatures all stomped their feet against the ground while singing, "Bing-a bang-a boka bing bam boom, bing-a bang-a boka bing bam boom! Boma-boma bama bam boom ba! Oh! Bika-bika-bika boka bim boom-boom!"

Suddenly, they all stopped before shouting together, " DANCE TIME!" resuming their strange little number while their captives thought up a way to escape, figuring that as long as they were busy dancing, now would be a good time.

However, untying themselves was difficult, especially since they could neither move their hands or feet. But as luck would have it, Goofy's ring started to glow as his outfit was replaced by fencing gear, a sword strapped to his back.

"Ahyuck, convenient," Goofy chuckled as the others looked at him, Minnie confused by all of this. Did this mean the rings gave each bearer more than one form?

While the creatures continued to dance, unaware of the change, Goofy shifted his back against up and down, his sword scraping against the rope until it was finally cut. With that, Goofy slowly drew his blade, cutting the others free while the creatures were still oblivious and too caught up in their dance time.

However, as the four escaped, Goofy's gear made a loud splashing sound as it was heavier than what the others were wearing. The beating of the rocks stopped as the creatures turned to face the others, Mickey grinning nervously while whispering, "We should run now."

With that, the two made a break for it only to end up at a ledge, a pit of fire burning down below. The creatures advanced towards the group, shooting fire up from their mouths and covering them with flames as Donald knelt down and started to pray for a miracle. After all, what could they do? These creatures had covered themselves in fire.

However, Goofy, as usual, didn't seem the least bit fazed by any of this as one leaped at him, the jester swiping his blade at it and knocking it and causing the creature to flinch. With that, the jester put on a look of confidence, performing a flip into the middle of the tribe, swinging his blade around while asking, "Anyone else want a go?"

However, while the jester continued to show off his skills with the fencing blade, one of the creatures charged into his rear end, the dog's behind catching flame while he ran around screaming in pain while trying to put the fire out.

And with that, Goofy's fencing uniform left him, replaced by his jester outfit as the tribe glared at him, advancing towards him. What could the dog do now? Let alone that, how could the others help him? He couldn't touch these creatures without burning themselves.

As all seemed lost, Goofy let out a sigh and placed his hand against the flower on the front of his outfit saying, "This last one's for you, Mama," squeezing the flower as a bit of water came out, the creatures staring at this, eyes wide open. Even the chief was trembling with fear now.

Goofy noticed their scared looks and asked, "What's wrong? Do I not look tasty enough for ya?" as Mickey slapped his forehead shouting, "GOOFY, THE FLOWER!"

"Flower?" the jester asked, then looking at his squirt flower, he smiled and gave it another squeeze while a small bit of water landing right in front of one of the creatures as it ran off in fear.

The creatures all cried out in terror, fleeing for their lives while Goofy continued to send warning sprays towards them. After they were all gone, the jester laughed while saying, "They weren't all that scary after all."

The others looked at one-another and smiled before running over to Goofy and giving him a pat on the shoulder. It seemed that the problem had now been solved and with that, the four carried on.

While walking, Minnie looked at Goofy with a strange look as Mickey laughed saying, "Oh, don't worry, Minnie. Goofy's always been positive in the worst of situations."

"No, it's not that," the princess replied, "It's just that... he took on a different form the first time he used the ring."

Mickey blinked in response to this, placing his hand against his chin and wondering if maybe they had other forms too. However, that train of thought would have to wait as one more thing was on the mouse's mind.

"Say, Minnie," the peasant said, his eyes moving in various directions as he continued, "What was it you were going to say to me before that little interruption?"

Minnie's eyes went wide at the sound of that. That's right, Minnie was about to say something. However, she really didn't feel now would be a good time, so she simply shrugged and replied, "I just noticed you had a hot coal on your head, but it's gone now."

Mickey simply let out a light, "Oh, well, that would have been nice to know for sure," before looking down, Minnie laughing nervously and doing the same.

"I don't know why she can't just say she loves him," Goofy said, staring at the two while Donald shrugged and replied, "Maybe she's just playing hard to get like Daisy," before a silly smile crossed his face, the duck chuckling and blushing. Love was truly complex.

Soon enough, the four found themselves in front of a cave and looked at one-another, gulping before entering. Who knew what dangers awaited them inside?


	11. Chapter 11

The Magical Quest

As the four entered the dark cave, Mickey's eyes darted back and forth. On one hand, it was nice to be away from all the lava and fire. On the other hand, they were in a dark, cold cave where anything could potentially harm them.

The group carried on for a few seconds until Mickey came to completely stop, Donald walking face-first into his back, Mickey turning to him and shushing him. Donald glared, ready to throw a fit when the mouse pointed up towards his reason for stopping.

There was an entire flock of bats hanging upside down from the roof. Luckily, they were asleep, but one could only imagine what would happen if they were to wake up.

Minnie's eyes went wide, the princess trembling while Goofy was about to chuckle, everyone quickly covering his mouth. Minnie then shushed all of them and started to move forward slowly on her tip toes. Mickey nodded and turned to the others, shushing them as he followed close behind, Donald doing the same to Goofy. Goofy then turned around to shush someone but realized no one was there, shrugging and following the others.

However, it seemed being as quiet as possible hadn't quite helped as one of the bats opened its eyes, stretching before noticing the others, its eyes going wide. It then turned to the other bats and screeched at them, pointing its right wing at the four. The other bats soon awoke, glaring at the peasants, jester and princess.

"Uh oh," Donald groaned, turning to notice the bats with their eyes open, Mickey turning around and whispering, "Donald, hurry up," then noticing what the duck was staring at, a look of fear in his eyes.

With that, the bats lashed out their fangs, their entire bodies soon covered in flames as they flew towards the group, the four panicking before running in the opposite direction. They could have barely taken that army had it not had the power of fire at its disposal. This just complicated things.

While the two ran down the hall, Mickey shook the ring up and down grumbling, "Why won't this stupid thing work?" while Minnie shrugged and replied, "Maybe the rings have minds of their own."

Nevertheless, this was inconvenient as they could really use the power of the rings right now. But on the plus side, they were at least outrunning the bats, but how long could they keep it up?

After another minute of running, something strange happened. The bats just... stopped. The four heroes also stopped to catch their breath, realizing they weren't being followed anymore and stared at the bats.

"Now why do you suppose they've stopped?" Goofy asked as Donald shrugged and remarked, "Who cares? We're safe now," and proceeded to spit raspberries at the creatures.

However, their confidence soon left them when Mickey pointed upward, the others looking up as well, their eyes going wide. The ceiling above them had spikes coming from it and, to make matters worse, it was lowering towards them.

After a few seconds of staring, all four started to panic as they took off once more. They couldn't turn back, after all. The bats would have most likely attacked them again.

The four ran for more than a minute, the spikes getting closer and closer. Luckily, it seemed that they were close to where the spikes would end. Unfortunately, the spikes were too close to the ground. Could they possibly make it?

"We're not gonna make it!" Minnie shouted as suddenly, Donald's ring started to glow as he was now wearing his barrel and cooking pot, the duck narrowing his eyelids while stating, "Not if I have anything to say to that!"

With that, the duck tucked himself inside the barrel, rolling forward and pulling the others with him. He was now moving at twice his original speed. But would this be enough?

The spikes were only seconds away as Donald pulling the others into the safe clearing, sighing with relief as the ceiling crashed down against the ground, Mickey breathing heavily while saying, "That could have been us."

As Donald emerged from the barrel, Minnie breathed a sigh of relief saying, "Well, that's that. We still have a long way to go."

While the group carried on, Donald had a look of disappointment on his face, grumbling mild curses under his breath. Where was his congratulatory pat on the shoulder? Goofy had gotten one for warding off a tribe with dumb luck. Donald had saved them from a much bigger threat.

As if things couldn't get any more complicated, Minnie started to breathe heavily after only taking two steps forward, slumping down on her knees. Everyone stopped as Mickey asked, "What's wrong?" Minnie letting out a sigh before replying, "My feet are tired."

"How can feet get tired?" Goofy asked as Mickey planted his palm against his face before explaining, "It's a figure of speech. On that note, I could use a rest too."

Donald, who had just returned to normal, sat down and joined them, stretching his arms out and yawning. Goofy shrugged, figuring he could use a great two and thus both he and the duck fell asleep right then and there.

"I have to say, it's amazing that we've made it this far," Minnie commented as Mickey laughed and nodded in response. Soon his smile turned a look of concern as he sighed, Minnie putting on a worried expression.

"Don't worry, Mickey," the princess said, patting him on the shoulder, "We'll rescue Pluto. I'm sure of it."

Meanwhile, back at Pete's castle, the king was in the dining hall enjoying a nice fancy dinner. As usual, all of the guards were also assembled simply to watch him eat his gourmet delicacies while they had small sandwiches. After all, King Pete always believed that his appetite was more important than theirs.

After stuffing down a chicken leg, the cat burped while one of the guards reached out for a wing, the guard next to him slapping his hand and shaking his head as if to say it wasn't worth it. After a few seconds, Pete noticed something wrong.

"Say," the king said, stroking his chin while the guards all looked at him, Pete asking, "Where is Ingo? I did specifically state that everyone in the kingdom assemble together for dinner as long as they're not out of the castle on business, right?"

The guards looked at each other and whistled innocently, Pete clapping his hands as one guard brought the king his cauldron, another bringing his book of spells. Pete flipped through the pages until he found one particular spell and chanted the words, shooting magic into the cauldron as Ingo appeared before him, but something was different.

Not only was Ingo red and dressed differently than before, but he looked as if he was inside a volcano. The king's eyes widened, but soon narrowed as he grunted. The other guards trembled in fear and watched while Pete stood up from his seat.

Pete took a deep breath and coughed before bellowing, "INGO DEFIED MY ORDERS!"

His voice boomed all throughout the kingdom, the guards all trembling as Pete calmed himself down. He couldn't believe that his most trusted minion would do such a thing. On the other hand, it wasn't as if Ingo was revolting against him. In fact, the imp was simply trying to defeat the princess and her allies. When Pete thought about it, maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

After a short nap, Donald woke up, stretching out his arms and felt something touch up against his hand. He slowly turned his eyes around and noticed it was Goofy's long snout, the dog still asleep next to him. The duck's eyes widened as he yelped, forcing Goofy away from him as the dog fell on his side, slowly waking up before saying, "Ahyuck, good morning, Donald."

Donald glared before throwing a tantrum, flailing his arms around as Mickey and Minnie awoke, rubbing their eyes and watching Donald trying to pummel Goofy while the jester held him back. Minnie chuckled and asked, "Are they always like this?" Mickey replying, "You have no idea."

After things had finally settled down, the four returned to their journey. After a few minutes of walking, the four found themselves in a room with openings on the floor, lava surrounding them. To make things stranger, the ceiling had fire spewing out of it. That was a very strange sight indeed. At the very least, they had a straight path ahead of them.

However, things didn't look up for very long as a familiar demon leaped from the ceiling in front of the group with a wicked grin on his face. The demon let loose smoke from his nostrils before exclaiming, "I finally got you right where I want you! You won't beat me this time!"

Mickey and Donald looked at one-another and shrugged while Minnie asked, "Um... who are you?" Goofy with another dumb-founded look on.

The imp groaned, turned his gaze to the readers and sighed, "I know my appearance has changed, but my face and voice are still the same. Isn't that enough?"

The others looked where the creature was facing as Mickey asked, "Who's he talking to?" while the others shrugged.

The imp slapped his forehead saying, "Surely you four must remember me," then seeing more clueless expressions sighed, "I'm Ingo," still receiving blank faces before adding, "King Pete's second-in-command."

"Oh, yeah, right, that guy," the four replied, nodding their heads while Ingo gritted his teeth. He couldn't help feeling insulted.

"Wait a minute," Goofy stated, stroking his chin, "If you're Ingo, then why are you red? I may not be all that smart, but I do remember you being green."

"Green?" Mickey retorted, tilting his head to the side, "He was flesh-coloured when we met him," Donald nodding and looking suspiciously at the demon saying, "Yeah."

"If you must know," the imp stated, "King Pete used his magic to transform me when I failed to stop you. However, that plant demon form wasn't for me. The problem with my first form was that I was fast but too weak. The problem with my second form was that I was strong but too slow. Thus I whipped up this new form for myself, one that's both fast and strong. You won't stand a chance this time."

"Oh yeah?" Mickey remarked, holding up his fists, "We beat you when it was just two of us! You may have received an upgrade, but we have an upgrade too!"

With that, the mouse showed the demon his ring as Ingo's eyes went wide, the demon shouting, "OH NO! YOU HAVE A MAGIC RING TOO!" Donald nodding and saying, "So do I!" showing off his own ring.

"Ahyuck, shiny," Goofy quipped as Ingo snarled and spat, "IT DOESN'T MATTER! I'LL GET MY REVENGE EITHER WAY!"

"Gee, what's gotten into you?" Minnie remarked, Mickey adding, "Sure, it's painful to lose, but you're acting a bit childish about it, don't you think?"

Ingo gritted his teeth and held up his hammer, slamming it hard against the ground as a chunk of rock was pushed up by lava from under Mickey, the mouse quickly leaping off of it before it reached the flaming roof. Clearly, Ingo was much more threatening now, and it didn't end there. The demon proceeded to shoot fireballs from his mouth, the group narrowly dodging except for Donald, whose tail was hit by one of them, the duck running around in panic, sticking his tail in the lava, breathing a sigh of relief only to realize the lava made the flame bigger, panicking even more.

"You'll pay for having me demoted!" the imp snapped, Mickey's eyes widening while the mouse replied, "You were demoted?"

"Yes!" Ingo remarked, a tear going down his face, "You have no idea how much my position meant to me!"

With that, the demon continued to shoot fireballs from his mouth toward the group, the four barely dodging while he continued to use his hammer to rise up pieces of the ground. He remembered how he'd grown up in a poor family. He remembered how he gave up his freedom so they would have a place to stay in the castle while he performed hard labour for Pete.

Ingo remembered how much it hurt getting all the way up to general status, and how his parents died from a deadly illness the day before his promotion. Naturally, being second-in-command meant a lot to the demon and he wasn't going to let a few peasants, a jester and a princess take that from him and get away with it.


	12. Chapter 12

The Magical Quest

While Ingo continued to shoot fire balls and caused bits of the ground to rise up from the ground, Mickey and the others were in a state of panic. How could they hurt this guy? He was clearly too crazy right now to approach.

The worst part was that currently, the rings didn't seem to be working. Why weren't they doing anything? It would have really helped right now.

After dodging another fireball, Mickey put on a look of anger as he shouted, "That's it! We don't need the rings to win this!"

The others stared at the mouse as he continued, "We came all this way to save Pluto! We recently faced a giant spider! Are we really going to let this guy ruin everything?"

Minnie blushed in response to this while Donald and Goofy looked at one-another, shrugged and nodded their heads at Mickey. Perhaps the peasant was right. Maybe all they needed to do was try.

As the next fireball closed in, Goofy placed his fingers against his squirt flower, spraying a small bit of water at it and putting it out, Ingo's eyes going wide with shock. While the demon remained spellbound, the jester proceeded to pull out a rope made of handkerchiefs, wrapping it around Ingo's body before reeling him in while Donald held his fist back. As the imp closed in, the duck threw his fist forward, ramming it into the demon's face while stars filled Ingo's eyes.

Mickey and Minnie nodded at one-another and proceeded to plant their feet hard into Ingo's face, the demon's eyes now twitching. He couldn't believe this. Even with his new incredible power, he was still losing to them, and they hadn't even used the power of their rings yet.

With that, the demon fumed as his entire body burst into flame, burning the handkerchief rope as he swung his hammer around, knocking the others away from him. Mickey and Minnie slid across the ground before coming to a complete stop, Donald flying into the wall above the entrance while Goofy's face almost ended up touching the lava.

"Now I have you right where I want you!" Ingo exclaimed, a psychotic grin on his face while he rose his hammer high above his head shouting, "NOW FOR YOU TO BURN LIKE THE PARASITES YOU ARE!"

However, just as he lowered the hammer, his eyes went wide when he saw a section of the wall next to the lava pool cracking. The others regained focus and noticed it as well. Soon enough, the entire section crumbled into big chunks as everyone stared in horror at the sight of a big red stone creature that resembled some kind of lizard head.

The head proceeded to glare at the group asking in a booming voice, "WHO DARES DISTURB THE GREAT MOLDOR'S SLEEP!"

Ingo blinked, his jaw dropped as he grinned nervously, pointing towards the others saying, "They were trying to vandalize your lair and I was simply trying to stop them."

Noticing the hammer, the stone head's eyes narrowed as he retorted, "I BLAME ALL OF YOU!"

"I was afraid of that," Ingo groaned as the Moldor shot fire all around the area. Everyone was in panic now as this guy was not only powerful, he was out of their reach.

However, luck seemed to finally be on their side as Donald and Goofy's rings glowed, Goofy chuckling, "Ahyuck, timing."

With that, he and Donald changed form. Once again, Donald was wearing his barrel armour while Goofy wore his Arabian entertainer outfit. Mickey and Minnie's rings also started to glow, the two smiling while their outfits changed as well, but rather than becoming their magician forms, they instead took on a couple of new ones. Now the two were wearing fire fighter gear and carrying a pair of water hoses.

Everyone froze when they saw the new forms and stared at this, Donald tilting his head to the side asking, "What kind of outfits are those?" as Ingo stroked his chin adding, "I'm more curious about those strange green things they're holding," while Goofy quipped, "Something tells me those shouldn't have been invented yet."

The two of them were also confused by this. After all, fire fighters didn't exist in medieval times.

However, Moldor went from interested to unimpressed in a heartbeat as he started to shooting flames everywhere, Mickey and Minnie shrugging and pressing what looked like a button on the metal part of their hoses, water shooting out and dousing the incoming flames. The mice both smiled at one-another as Minnie stated, "We'll take care of old rock face here! You deal with Ingo!"

"Oh no you don't!" the demon spat, but just as he was about to interfere, Donald swung his mallet hard into the imp's rear end, Ingo crying out in pain before glaring at him.

This was a problem. Now that the duck was suited up with armour, he couldn't move as quickly. Luckily, Goofy was also in the battle as he pulled out his flaming batons, juggling them as he quickly lost his grip on them, the batons flying into Ingo's face. The dog then proceeded to shove one of the batons down his throat, shooting a burst of flame at the demon. However, Ingo seemed unfazed by it.

"Oh, this is too perfect!" the demon exclaimed, laughing wickedly, "It seems my new form makes me immune to fire!"

All the while, Mickey and Minnie were busy shooting water from their hoses at the large stone head, Moldor scowling as steam started to emanate from his body, the monster slowly losing his red colour in favour of a gray one. Luckily for them, Moldor was just a face stuck to a wall, so he couldn't avoid this if he tried.

Moldor tried to sent flames at the two only for them to douse it seconds later, hitting the monster in the face. It was only a matter of time until he lost all power to shoot fire.

Ingo shot a fireball towards Donald who simply ducked down into his barrel. However, this didn't prove quite as effective as when the fireball hit, the barrel burst into flame as it burned into ashes. Donald noticed he was now naked with the exception of his cooking pot helmet as he quickly covered the area where one would expect his private parts to be but couldn't really see due to the fact that he was, after all, a duck.

Luckily, his sailor outfit soon returned, but now his power was gone. All the while, Goofy was pretty much helpless with his entertainer outfit. Ingo had them right where he wanted as he sent both reeling across the floor with the help of his hammer.

"Well, that was just too easy," the demon said with a grin, "But I do have to thank your friends Mickey and Minnie. Had it not been for them, that stupid Moldor would have interfered."

Upon hearing that remark, Moldor's look of pain turned to extreme anger as the demon let out a loud roar, letting out a large flame that was even too big for the water from Mickey and Minnie's hoses to possibly put out. The two leaped to the side while Ingo saw the incoming flame, sighing and shrugging as he knew it would just pass through him.

However, much to his surprise, this flame actually damaged him as it covered his entire body. When the flame finally stopped coming at him, the demon was covered in soot while he coughed up a bit of smoke, passing out.

"Well, that takes care of one threat," Mickey said as he and Minnie turned back to Moldor, hitting the rock demon with more water as the creature roared in pain, his body now completely turned gray.

The others stared at this sight, their powers leaving them as Moldor moaned, "You have defeated the great Moldor..." before his body cracked open and fell into the lava, a ghost that resembled a fat cat flying out of the wall.

However, now was not the time to rejoice as the four felt a rumbling against the ground. When Mickey saw the lava start to rise up, her realized what had happened. They had just killed the one thing preventing the lava from rising up.

"Oh no..." Mickey quipped as Donald started to panic, Minnie shouting, "Come on! We need to get out of here now!"

But just as the others were about to leave, Mickey turned towards Ingo, who couldn't move right now, and ran towards him. Minnie held out her hand shouting, "MICKEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" as Mickey turned to Donald and Goofy, signalling them towards the princess as the two looked at each other, their jaws dropping. Was the peasant serious about this?"

There was no time to think about this as the lava continued to rise, now touching the ground a few feet from them as Goofy and Donald nodded, grabbing Minnie by the shoulders and carrying her out while she cried out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING! MICKEY'S STILL BACK THERE!"

The mouse ran over to the crippled demon and knelt down, placing his hands under Ingo's body and attempted to lift him up while the imp asked weakly, "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting you out of here!" Mickey grunted as Ingo's jaw dropped, tears filling his eyes as he said, "Even after I tried to capture you three times, you're trying to save me. But why?"

"Because I know deep down inside, you have a soul," the mouse replied, trying his hard to lift the demon up, "Nothing with a soul deserves to die."

Ingo sniffed and noticed the lava getting closer as he sighed, "Perhaps I'd chosen the wrong side. Maybe being evil wasn't the right path," then coughing a bit, he said, "Mickey, leave me here. You won't be able to carry me out before the lava reaches you."

"I can't let you die!" the mouse retorted as the demon shook his head and said, "No, you need to rescue the princess's dog. Just leave me. I have no one to go back to after all the things I did."

Mickey let down a tear as the demon quipped, "I just now realized the mistake that I made. Serving the king was not the best thing I could choose," then letting out another light cough, the demon added, "But even though I die, your mission shall be done."

Then letting down one last tear, the demon slowly held up his hammer finishing with, "If you stay, you are very sure to lose."

With that, he used his last ounce to strength to strike Mickey in the gut, the mouse flying into the next room. The mouse grunted, quickly getting up. Luckily for him, Ingo hadn't used enough force to injure the mouse too badly, however, Mickey still had a look of sadness on his face while he watched Ingo's body being consumed by the hot liquid.

However, now was not the time to stand around feeling sorry for him. That lava was going to keep rising, and it was like Ingo had said. The mouse had come all this way to save his best friend. He couldn't throw that away now. With that in mind, Mickey put on a serious expression and took off, the lava making its way towards the next room.

All the while, Minnie, Donald and Goofy had finally escaped as Minnie had a look of concern on her face. What if Mickey didn't make it?

"We should have helped him," Minnie sniffed as Donald placed a hand on the princess's shoulder saying, "There, there, I'm sure he's okay."

At that very moment, Mickey emerged from the cave while the lava stopped rising right in front of the exit. The others breathed a sigh of relief as Goofy chuckled, "See? Everything's okay!"

"Not everything," Minnie replied, seeing Mickey's look of sadness as she placed a hand on his shoulder, a smile on her face while she said, "It's okay, Mickey. Maybe the gods will look past his previous actions and realize he did it for the right reasons."

"Yeah," Mickey replied, wiping his tears and putting on a weak smile. This was no time to mope around anyway. The four needed to continue their journey. Thus they carried on, eventually finding a Pete statue and entering it. Who knew what awaited them in the next area? Perhaps they'd finally found the statue leading them to Peteland.


	13. Chapter 13

The Magical Quest

Back at Peteland, the king was once again sitting on his throne as a bat flew into his room carrying a parchment in its talons. The cat looked up with interest as the bat dropped the parchment into Pete's hands. Pete whistled as a guard entered and handed the servant the parchment saying, "Read this to me."

The guard nodded and opened up the parchment, knowing not to question the fact that his king still couldn't read, and cleared his throat before stating, "There was a problem in the Fire Grotto as the demon Moldor was defeated."

Pete groaned in response to this as the guard continued, "This caused the lava in the cave to rise up. While four unknown figures escaped, our very own soldier Ingo was left to be consumed by the lava."

Upon reading those exact words, the guard's eyes widened, his jaw dropped. Ingo was the best they had. With him gone, what were they to do?

However, Pete didn't seem quite as fazed by this as he simply let out a sigh saying, "Well, good riddance. He deserved it for defying my orders."

The guard stared at the king, his jaw dropped. Sure, he knew Pete was cruel and selfish, but he had no idea the man could be this heartless. Ingo had been Pete's most trusted ally for years and now that he was dead, the king didn't seem to care in the slightest.

Pete looked over at the guard as the man simply regained his neutral expression, the king shrugging and stating, "These four heroes are a lot more difficult than I first thought. So far, they've beaten my beautiful snake, my lovely spider and Moldor. I may actually end up having to do something."

Thinking hard about this, the king shrugged. What a silly thought. Kings shouldn't have to do anything, right? They had servants to do it all for them. However, who was to say these heroes wouldn't defeat his other minions?

Meanwhile, Mickey and the others had entered a less frightening area to say the least. It seemed as if they were up in the clouds, and they really were high enough to be touching them. Minnie looked over a nearby ledge and noticed that they were on top of a mountain that was very high off the ground.

More importantly, it was late, the sky now very dark. With all these clouds around, it would be even more difficult to see. Thus the group decided to pack it in for the night.

Shivering, Mickey looked around and suggested, "Perhaps we should find some leaves or something to cover us up," as Goofy chuckled, "Ahyuck, nonsense! We won't need leaves!"

The other three stared at the jester strangely as he pulled quickly pulled out tent-making gear from under his sleeve. This was just weird. After all, Goofy was a jester, not a magician. Nevertheless, this was certainly convenient.

"Thank you, Goofy," Minnie said with a bow as the jester blushed and replied, "Gorsh, twas nothing, really."

Donald looked at this with a grimace while muttering, "What kind of freak carries a tent under his sleeve?" as Mickey picked up the materials saying, "I'll set up camp in that clearing over there," pointing at an area below a chunk of rock sticking out of the mountain next to the one they were on.

Donald nodded happily and walked over, picking up a couple of tent sticks as Mickey simply took them from the sailor saying, "It's okay, Donald. I can handle it myself."

The duck let out a sigh and sat down on a rock while Minnie looked out into the distance before noticing Mickey setting up the tent, a sigh escaping his mouth. Once again, the peasant was thinking about Pluto. After all, it had been a whole day since he'd lost his best friend.

The princess walked over to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder, Mickey looking at her with a smile. After all, they had made it this far. And for all they knew, Pluto was probably fine.

A few minutes later, the tent was set up and everyone was ready to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be a big day. Mickey was next to Minnie, a blush coming over his face as he chuckled and said, "Goodnight, Princess Minnie," the princess smiling while saying, "Goodnight, Mickey."

"Goodnight, Donald," Goofy said with a grin as the duck rolled his eyes before closing them. All four were now sound asleep.

Minutes later, Donald awoke with a startled look, finding himself in what appeared to be a dressing room as a young man walked entered saying, "Good evening, Mr. Duck. Your public awaits you."

The duck rubbed his eyes, looking around at all the expensive decorations and commander outfits hanging up in a golden wardrobe. The sailor simply looked at the man before him and asked, "Who are you?"

The man laughed and replied, "Good one, Mr. Duck, pretending not to know your own manager, Mr. Smith! You really are too much!"

Donald had no clue what was going on, but who was he to complain? This was like a dream come true. But it got better as the man known as Mr. Smith directed the duck to a big stage where hundreds of servants had gathered to see him.

The duck had a big smile on his face as he asked, "Are they all here to see me?" as Mr. Smith nodded saying, "They sure are, Mr. Duck. After all, you're a big hero in everyone's eyes!"

Then noticing Donald's sailor outfit, he shook his head and said, "I told you not to get too attached to your old sailor uniform. You'll need something much more fitting," then pulling out a dressing curtain, he quickly changed Donald into a commander's outfit.

Why was the duck being hailed as a hero, though? When did he get such a big fanbase? Better yet, why did he care?

The duck simply strutted out onto the stage as the crowd cheered loudly, a group of singers coming together while Donald started to dance, the singers all letting out the following:

"Who is this before our eyes, the manly stud with all the luck? With a graceful pose and a handsome face, none other than Donald Duck!"

Donald proceeded to wink at the crowd as girls reached over to touch him, the duck continuing his dance while the singers continued, "He's faced many demons to get this far! He's defeated sharks and a Kracken too, but it hasn't stopped there, oh no, that's just a portion of what he can do!"

As the duck broke out into a break dance, the crowd cheered even louder as the people proceeded to sing, "When everyone was in peril and a two-headed dragon spawned, who was the one who beat him in the end?" the crowd shouting, "DONALD!"

"When a giant dinosaur lost its temper and terrorized the land, one brave soul volunteered to be its friend!" the singers added as the crowd once again screamed, "DONALD!"

"He truly is amazing, the perfect manly man," the singers quipped, "If Donald cannot save our land, then no one else really can. No matter what the danger, no matter what the threat, who will it be who saves us all? It's Donald Duck, I bet!"

The sailor continued to pose and dance while the people started moving to beat themselves singing, "Who is this before our eyes, the manly stud with all the luck? With a graceful pose and a handsome face, none other than Donald Duck!"

While the duck continued to bust out a series of dance moves that shouldn't have even existed in this era, the crowd of people all cheered and whistled at him, women blowing him kisses while the men had jealous expressions on their faces. Donald continued to impress the crowd, a look of seriousness on his face as he leaped into the air, performing a series of flips before landing perfectly on his feet, the crowd cheering even louder than before.

Grabbing a microphone that a member of the staff threw to him, Donald stuck out his chest, medals popping out from under his feathers while adding his own little verse that went something like this:

"You see these medals? I earned them all for all my great heroic deeds! If ever you're in trouble, I'll be there to fulfil your needs!"

He blew a kiss at Daisy, who was also in the crowd as hearts filled her eyes, the girl reaching out to the sailor as he proceeded to sing, "I'm incredible, there's no denying it! I'm the greatest hero of all! There's no monster too big for me to face, despite me being rather small!"

Daisy then grabbed onto the sailor's head, kissing him on the cheek as he smiled and blushed, the women all patting the female duck on the shoulder. As Donald winked at Daisy, the fashion's expert passed out from the excitement of it all, being carried out of the area by Donald's agents. Donald simply laughed at the sight of this before turning back to his other adoring public, striking another pose while the crowd whistled and cheered wildly.

"He's faced giants and knocked out demons and taken care of carnivorous plants too," the people sang, "But he's done so much more to earn his fame! There's no telling what he can do!"

As Donald performed a splits formation, the crowd applauded him as the singers added, "Who is this before our eyes, the manly stud with all the luck? With a graceful pose and a handsome face, none other than Donald Duck!"

As the song came to a close, the duck proceeded to leap towards the crowd, however, he was shocked when his fans moved away from him, creating the shape of a large hole where they weren't standing. The duck started to panic as he fell into a dark abyss, his eyes going wide as he found himself back in the tent, breathing heavily.

That whole thing... all of it had been a dream, a wonderful, wonderful dream... until the ending anyway. Donald looked over at Goofy who was snoring loudly next to him, Mickey and Minnie sleeping soundly as the duck put on a look of shame. All three of them had deserved a nice long rest. They had done so much today to prove their worth. But what of Donald?

He felt that he had done quite a bit today, but he hadn't received any recognition for it. It was Donald who had saved everyone from being crushed back in the cave. Where was his thanks? However, with the others doing so many things he felt he could have done, that was really the only big thing he'd accomplished up to this point.

Sure, he'd stood up a giant snake, but he knew that was a battle he couldn't win and even fled for his life when he realized there was a way to escape. True, he'd helped defeat Ingo in the first fight against him, but Mickey had done most of the work. But wait a minute: wasn't it Donald who defeated the spider? Well, had Mickey not trapped the spider in place, Donald probably wouldn't have had his chance.

With that in mind, the duck got up with a serious look in his eyes. Perhaps if he got to Pete first and defeated him before the others could, they'd finally see him as a worthy addition to the team. After all, how much farther would he really need to go?

With that, he took one of the fruits he and the others had picked earlier and ate it quickly. After all, he couldn't go off and face evil on an empty stomach.

The duck took a few steps forward before looking back at the other three who were still sound asleep. He let out a sigh and turned back in the direction he was headed. If he could pull this off, there was no way the others would ever look down on him again.

As the sailor walked down the path, a bunch of bees watching him from a distance, the duck let out one last sigh before saying slowly, "Who is this before our eyes, the manly stud with all the luck?"

Then sniffing, he wiped a tear from his right eye and added, "With a graceful pose and a handsome face, none other than Donald..."

Looking down, the duck gulped and finished with, "Duck..." before walking off into the night. Just what was Donald thinking? There was no way he could face all this danger on his own... could he?


	14. Chapter 14

The Magical Quest

Before we continue to daybreak, let's return to Peteland one last time to check up on the one being who hadn't been seen in a while. Pluto had been awake for a long time. He hadn't even had so much as a single nap today, which was unusual for most house pets.

And how could he sleep knowing his master was risking his life for him? That was a huge burden to bare. Of course, having heard that Mickey was still alive from when the guard read the report of Ingo's demise, he did at least feel a bit confident.

Of course, now the dog was tired. He simply looked out of the window next to his cage, up at the moon with a look of worry in his eyes. As he lay there and folded his paws, his eyes slowly started to close as soon enough, Pluto had finally gone to sleep. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright.

Soon enough, morning came as Mickey stretched and yawned, smacking his lips and looking over at the sleeping princess next to him. He then noticed that his hand was wrapped around hers as he chuckled nervously, prying her fingers off. Had she woken up, that would have been awkward.

Goofy was still snoring really loudly, Mickey rolling his eyes at the sight of this. However, what the peasant saw next struck fear into him... or rather it was what he didn't see.

Donald was nowhere in sight. He wasn't lying down sleeping or anything. Mickey poked his head outside of the tent and looked back and forth, not noticing Donald anywhere in sight, and he could tell Donald was nowhere near the camping spot as the clouds and sky were much lighter now.

Mickey turned to Goofy and shook the dog by the shoulders saying, "Goofy, wake up," then turning to Minnie, he lightly tapped her on the shoulder, not wanting to be too rough with the love of his life. The jester seemed to have completely ignored Mickey's pleas, but at the very least, Minnie had felt his soft touch.

"What's wrong, Mickey?" the princess asked groggily, rubbing her eyes and yawning as Mickey pointed at Donald's empty spot and replied, "Donald's gone missing."

Minnie was now wide awake as she noticed Goofy still asleep and shook him by the shoulders, receiving more response as Mickey shrugged before the princess proceeded to slap the jester in the face. This caught Goofy's attention as he slowly opened his eyes and placed his hand against his cheek stating, "Now that's what I call an alarm clock."

Mickey simply stared, his eye twitching. That bad joke could have worked better had Minnie actually bonked him on the head, but this was no time to contemplate that as the two explained that Donald was missing.

"Aw, shucks, he ain't missing," Goofy replied, patting his hand against Donald's empty sleeping space adding, "He's right beside me, aren't ya, Donald?" then looking at the spot, his eyes went wide as the jester gasped, "Donald's gone missing!"

Mickey slapped his forehead in response to this while Minnie put on a serious look, exited the tent and stated, "Well, what are we sitting around here for? We need to find Donald!"

"But where do you suppose he went?" Goofy asked, scratching his head as Mickey nodded saying, "We don't really have any real leads," while Minnie sighed, turning to the two and stating, "We'll search every inch of this mountain if we have to! No one gets left behind!"

Mickey smiled with admiration for these noble words as Goofy chuckled and nodded, Minnie pointing toward the direction they were headed and started stomping her feet up and down while saying, "We gotta go forth and never look back!"

The peasant and jester nodded in response to this, joining in with the princess's march as all three proceeded forward while the princess chanted, "We have to look deep inside, erase all fear and go in for the attack!"

With that, the three marched through the area while stating in unison, "We may be small but we are strong! When we look inside ourselves, we can overcome any wrong! If we give up and stop believing, then we're sure to get nowhere! But as long as we're braver, we've got no ill to bare!"

"We need to stay strong!" Mickey stated as Goofy nodded and added, "We cannot fall back!" Minnie smiling while chanting, "We need to keep our eyes front, forget our troubles and make up for what we lack!"

At that very moment, a swarm of bees emerged from a corner, eggs with eye holes and the legs of newborn chicks sticking out of them also joining in and watching the three while all of them joined in as all of them chanted, " We may be small but we are strong! When we look inside ourselves, we can overcome any wrong! If we give up and stop believing, then we're sure to get nowhere! But as long as we're braver..."

"As long as we are stronger!" Mickey exclaimed, Goofy adding, "As long as we're courageous!" Minnie also stating, "As long as we believe!"

"As long as we're braver," the group shouted, "we've got no ill to bare!" the three marching off into the distance while the chicks and bees cheered for them. Nothing was going to stand in their way now.

At that moment, Donald was walking along, not really having a whole lot of trouble. So far, nothing had attacked him or anything. It seemed like smooth sailing for him.

"Hey, this isn't so bad," the duck said with a confident smile on his face, "Maybe being on my own isn't so bad."

However, just as quickly as his confidence had come, it soon left him when a large hawk swooped down towards the duck, Donald crouching just in time to avoid being snatched by its talons. A look of fear came over the bird as the hawk turned around, soaring at him again.

Donald quickly ran fled behind a nearby rock, the hawk picking up the large objects and crushing it between its talons before glaring at Donald yet again. The sailor was once again in panic until he realized something he could do.

As the hawk dove in for the kill once again, Donald backed up towards the mountain next to the one he was standing on, placing his back up against it. As the hawk closed in, Donald quickly shifted his body to the right as the large creature rammed hard into it, its beak now jammed into the wall.

Donald looked at this with a smile before breaking out in hysterics. The hawk looked absolutely pathetic now, so the duck couldn't help laughing. However, the hawk very quickly pried its beak out of the mountainside before glaring at Donald once more.

When the duck wiped a tear from his eye, opening both of them, his laughter soon ended as he panicked, fleeing for his life once more. What was he to do now? It would only be a matter of time until he was captured. Maybe going off on his own wasn't the best idea.

As the hawk dove in for another go, it heard footsteps entering the area as it turned its gaze to see a peasant, a jester and a princess approaching, all three freezing in place with fear in their eyes. Donald looked up with shock. He couldn't believe it. Not the fact that his friends had come to help him, but the fact that they'd caught up with him so quickly. After all, he had been travelling on his own for well over an hour.

Nevertheless, he couldn't have been happier. He now realized he wasn't fit to face the world on his own, be him a former marine or not.

Mickey soon noticed the duck right there and tapped his friends on the shoulder, pointing in Donald's direction as the two soon noticed him as well, Goofy smiling and chuckling, "Ahyuck, we found Donald!" as Minnie nodded and remarked, "That hawk seems to have found him first."

Goofy blinked and asked, "What hawk?" looking back at the giant bird and chuckled, "Ahyuck, that hawk."

The jester had a clueless expression on his face for a few seconds before realizing how serious the situation was. That hawk was intending to have their friend for dinner. Well, the jester wasn't going to stand for that as he quickly pulled out his rubber balls, juggling them around.

The hawk was just about to go in for the kill when it noticed the balls being juggled, its eyes following them. After a few seconds, its eyes started to spin as its movement began to falter, the creature distracted long enough for Donald to return to his friends' side.

"Thank you so much!" Donald cried out, still trembling from the shock of it all while Minnie asked, "Why did you run away?"

Donald let out a sigh and explained, "I wanted to prove myself a hero by saving Pluto before you guys could make it to Pete's castle, but I guess I do need you."

"But Donald," Mickey replied with a compassionate smile on his face, "We need you too. You complete our team," as Donald let down a tear asking, "R-really?"

However, this would have to wait as Goofy fumbled with the balls and sent them flying into various directions, one beaning a bee over the skull and another landing atop an egg, said egg cracking as the baby chick blushed and held its stubby wings over its lower body.

The others were in panic again as the hawk regained focus, letting out a loud battle cry and flying toward Goofy, lifting him up into the air. The others stared in absolute horror as Goofy was carried up to the top of the mountain. The hawk's nest must have been up there.

"GOOFY!" Mickey and Donald cried out as Minnie put on a worried expression, Mickey turning to the princess with a serious look and stating, "We'll just go up there and save him!"

"But how?" Minnie asked as Mickey's ring started to glow, the peasant replying, "We're small but we're strong, remember?"

Suddenly, Mickey's body glowed as soon his clothes were replaced by a green tunic and a matching feather cap, much like how Robin Hood dressed. Minnie was taken aback as her own ring glowed, the princess now sporting an outfit of her own, only it was red as opposed to green.

Donald's own ring started to glow as his sailor uniform was replaced by a big green cloak. Unfortunately, the cloak was too big, so the hood immediately fell over his face as the duck simply lifted it up and placed it a little bit back so he could see through it.

But this wasn't all. While Minnie and Mickey both had grappling hooks by their sides, Donald had a rope. This was perfect. As if the rings just knew where they were the situation they were in, all three now had climbing gear.

Donald let down a tear of joy, now finally taking on his second form. Perhaps they could save Goofy after all.

"I know these might look like they're at their worst," Mickey said, shooting his grappling hook towards a pole sticking out from a mountainside, "I see a minor setback," swinging over a gap as the other followed him, Donald using his rope like a grappling hook.

"We're not down yet, that's the way it is, as long as we launch the first attack," the peasant continued as the others followed him, now climbing up the mountain towards a higher level.

"I see a world full of danger and strife," Minnie added, "But if we ignore that, we're sure to get by."

"It's not always as bad as it appears," Donald quipped, almost falling as a swarm of bees helped him up, the duck adding, "Though it's scary, to that I'll not lie."

As the three reached the higher level, Mickey shot his hook to the side attached to the next level stating, "If everyone looked in their hearts, maybe things wouldn't be quite as hard," then noticing Minnie slipping, his grabbed her arm, helping her up as he continued, "We've faced the odds, so we all know we can do this as long as we don't drop our guards!"

As the three continued their climb, Goofy was in the hawk's nest as it looked out, the jester's stomach growling as he said, "Hey, Mrs. Hawk, I'm hungry," the hawk glaring at him, rather offended by that statement for reasons it couldn't explain because, well, it couldn't speak English.

This truly was quite the predicament, but at least the jester hadn't been eaten yet. For all he knew, his friends were probably on their way to rescue him right now.


	15. Chapter 15

The Magical Quest

Note: Bill the Lizard is a character who appeared in both Alice in Wonderland and The Great Mouse Detective.

Goofy heard his stomach grumbling again as he looked up at the hawk, folding his arms. After a while, the hawk's stomach started to growl as well as it turned to Goofy, biting the lower section of its beak. After all, it needed Goofy alive as bait to lure the others towards it, knowing they would come. However, hunger was a difficult thing to ignore.

As such, the hawk turned to Goofy and opened its beak, the the dog's eyes going wide as he, in an act of desperation, squeezed his flower, water spraying into the hawk's beak as it swallowed it, glaring at the jester once more. Goofy gulped and nervously quipped, "Ahyuck, guess you weren't thirsty after all."

But just as the hawk opened its beak again, three familiar figures finally made it to the top as Mickey latched his grappling hook to the bird's back, the creature wincing before taking to the sky, dragging the mouse with it. Goofy looked at this and smiled. He knew his friends would come and save him. However, his smile didn't last long. Even he knew when it was time to worry.

Minnie and Donald positioned themselves onto the level as well before looking up at the sight of Mickey being pulled by the large hawk, looks of fear in their eyes. After all, who knew whether or not the peasant could hang on?

"I'll help ya out, old buddy!" Goofy exclaimed as his ring glowed, the jester soon taking on his fencer form as he charged forward, leaping off the cliff hoping to make it to the hawk.

Unfortunately, the hawk flew high enough to dodge the incoming dog as he started to fall while crying, "YAHOOHOOHOOHOY!" before Minnie quickly shot her grappling hook forward and caught the jester in midair.

Goofy noticed he wasn't falling anymore and slowly turned his head, noticing the hook grabbing onto the back of his trousers as he chuckled, "Ahyuck, convenient."

As Minnie started pulling Goofy up, Mickey couldn't hang on anymore as the hawk spun its body around causing the mouse to let go as the peasant flew face-first into the nest. Donald looked at all of this with discontent. Mickey was currently out of commission and couldn't fight the hawk, Minnie was too busy helping Goofy up and Donald didn't even have a grappling hook. However, he did have a rope. Perhaps he could be of some help.

The duck noticed the hawk soaring towards Minnie, who was a few seconds away from rescuing Goofy. If that hawk hit its target, the princess would surely drop Goofy to his death. With that in mind, Donald quickly charged forward, swinging his rope around like a lasso and threw it at the hawk's head, wrapping the rope around it.

The hawk's eyes went wide as Donald positioned himself onto its back and directed it over Minnie's head. At that moment, Minnie finally managed to pull Goofy up to where she was, the jester chuckling and saying, "Thanks," as Minnie looked at Donald, now riding atop the hawk and sighed, "If it hadn't been for Donald, I would have lost you."

Donald noticed that the two were safe and wiped his nervous sweat off of his forehead before realizing he was one the hawk's back. With that in mind, the duck cried out in absolute horror, soon releasing the rope as the hawk spun around again, this time sending Donald falling towards the nest.

Just as he was about to hit, Mickey regained consciousness and quickly caught him, the duck sighing with relief as Mickey asked, "What were you doing up there, pal?"

However, not all was well and good as the hawk flew up to another mountain, picking up a boulder placed atop it with its talons. Minnie looked at this with worry and asked, "How are we going to stop this thing? Nothing we do seems to effect it."

Donald eyes the boulder and put on a serious expression as he held onto both ends of his rope. With determination in his heart, he turned his head towards the others saying, "Leave this to me," before turning back.

Was Donald crazy? How could he take this beast himself? Mickey and Minnie also thought this was nuts, but Goofy had confidence in the duck. Perhaps Donald knew what he was doing.

With that, the hawk flew in front of the group, hurling the boulder at Donald as the duck held his rope in front of his face. As the boulder hit the rope, much to everyone's shock, the rock didn't go through the material. However, it did start to force Donald backwards as he struggled to maintain his footing.

The others nodded at one-another before placing their hands against Donald's back, pushing against it to assist their friend. After a few seconds, Donald screeched to a halt, the boulder still pressing up against the rope, and what good timing this was. Mickey's feet were right up against the edge of the mountain.

The hawk's eyes went wide as it flew upward, Donald grinning and shouting, "I don't think so!" as he shifted the rope so it was now pointed just a few inches above the hawk, pulling on both ends and causing it to whip forward, the boulder now launched as it flew fast and hard into the hawk's chin.

The bird's eyes went wide, soon filled with stars as it fell right next to the nest, the beast coughing up a ghost that resembled Pete. That was that. The hawk had been defeated.

Donald looked at this, his eyes going wide as he asked, "Did I do that?" as Minnie placed a hand against his shoulder saying, "Good thinking, Donald, using the hawk's own weapon against it. But how did you know the rope would be strong enough to send it back?"

Donald shrugged as the others simply patted him on the shoulders. After all, their abilities had just come to them when they first took on their new forms. Maybe that was the case. Nevertheless, Donald had certainly helped much more than they had.

With all said and done, the four climbed down the mountain using their gear, Donald having to carry Goofy due to the fact that the jester's form didn't have climbing gear. How was it that Donald could use a rope to climb these walls anyway? It wasn't as if he had a grappling hook. Oh, but of course, he used the poles sticking out of the sides to do it.

As soon as the group reached the bottom, they returned to normal as everyone's stomachs growled. Mickey chuckled and said, "I guess we still need breakfast," as they all pulled out the fruits they had picked earlier from the forest and had themselves a nice breakfast.

Unfortunately they ended up using all the fruit, but not because of a lack of will power. No, it was because the fruit would have most likely gone rotten if they let it wait any longer. Either way, they were full and ready to go.

Back in Peteland, the king had just woken up from a long night's sleep. Pete grunted and smacked his lips, scratching the back of his neck with one hand before letting out a loud yawn and stretching his other hand out.

Pete then proceeded to clap his hands, a group of loyal bats coming to his side and clutching onto his arms with their tiny feet. The bats wheezed and gasped for air as they barely pulled him up out of bed. After all, Pete was incredibly fat and heavy. At least they didn't have any other painful jobs to attend to.

The king proceeded to clap his hands a second time, a pair of guards carrying his slippers and placing them on his feet. The king proceeded to walk towards the door, the bats sighing and opening it up. Again, at least this job wasn't painful.

Now to be fair, Pete wasn't really this lazy. He would have gladly done this stuff on his own. However, he would always wake up feeling too groggy to perform such simple tasks. It was a problem he'd been born with. He was a cat, after all.

As the king slowly made his way to the dining hall, guards opening the doors for him of course, he sat down at his table, naturally after one of the guards pulled it outward for him, and received his breakfast, courtesy of the kingdom's chef, Bill the lizard. Along with that was his cup of coffee, which Pete took a sip of first. Suddenly, his eyes were wide open, a big smile on his face before the king let out a sigh of relief.

"Nothing gets my heart beating faster than a nice cup of Joe," the cat stated as he proceeded to eat his breakfast, which consisted of sausage, bacon, eggs and toast.

Bill simply smiled and watched the king gorge down his food while the guards were treated to bowls of baked beans and hard-boiled eggs. As mentioned before, King Pete always got the best and biggest meals. As for why Bill was smiling, he'd pretty much come to expect no response from the king. Up until now, Ingo had been the only one to ever receive compliments from Pete.

After finishing his breakfast, the king then looked at his men and stated, "Everyone, I have an announcement to make!" while the guards stared in fear. For all they knew, this was probably a bad thing.

"As you all know, my second-in-command has recently past away," Pete continued to say while the others looked down. Even those who didn't particularly like Ingo were saddened by this.

"Yes, yes, this is very tragic indeed," the king added before smiling and proceeding to explain, "However, this is a shining opportunity for all of you as after breakfast, I'm holding a fighting tournament that all of you must partake in!"

The guards looked at one-another and gulped as the cat stated, "Whoever comes out on top becomes my new general and the ere to the throne!"

Suddenly, the looks of fear on the guards turned to serious looks as each one glared at the other, determined to take that title. After all, there was no bigger honour.

Bill perked up and smiled at Pete, nodding his head while the king sighed, "Fine, Bill, you can participate too," as he conjured up a shield, war helmet and spear, all of which were too big for Bill to handle, but the lizard didn't care. He was just happy to have a shot at this.

However, as the guards all hurried to finish off their breakfasts, ready to begin this chance of a lifetime, Pete's eyes went wide as a puff of smoke appeared before him. The king blinked as a wolf dressed in red wizard clothes stood before him, another wolf and a weasel standing next to him. The other wolf wore a big golden suit of armour with a silver belt and sandals. He also had a spiked helmet. The second weasel was dressed up like a jester with an orange clown outfit and a blue party hat.

"Who are you supposed to be and what are you doing in my castle?" Pete asked as the wizard bowed and said, "Forgive me, but we wish to serve you. I am the Dark Wizard Agan and these are my associates," then pointing at the wolf he explained, "This is my weapons expert, Bogard," then directing the king's attention to the weasel added, "and this is my tactical fighter, Jaguar. Don't be fooled by his outfit. He's very deadly."

With that, Bogard cleared his throat and stated, "Agan here wishes to be your new second-in-command," as Jaguar nodded and added, "You'd be making a mistake not to choose him."

Pete glared and replied, "Well, that is very flattering, but why should I hire you for such a big position?" the other guards adding to the glares and nodding. They didn't want this random nobody taking this chance from them.

Agan bowed again saying, "Of course. I should have backed up my case better," then raising his hands, the wizard conjured up a large explosion as a demonic bats emerged from it, the wizard laughing before explaining, "If you just give me chance, I'll show you something great. Now you will never believe your eyes."

With that, the bats flew in front of the guards who started to tremble at the sight of them, Agan adding, "If you do not choose me as your second-in-command, sire, it would be most unwise."

Pete looked with interest as the wizard proceeded to summon a large serpent dragon made of flames and stated, "Just pick me and claim this opportunity. A chance like this happens once. Just say the word and I will be yours to obey your commands."

With that, the bats moved away from the guards and flew around Agan's head chanting, "We surrender! You are quite the man! We surrender! You're the one with the plan! We all bow down to you!"

Agan laughed and grinned with pride adding, "My power's amazing, you'd have to agree."

Pete stroked his chin with interest while Bogard pulled out two large red canons with stars on them, the guards gasping while the wolf proceeded to fire the canon balls into the air, the balls exploding like fireworks while the wolf laughed and stated, "Before I met him, I had no aim in life. I was nothing but a worthless bum. The people all laughed at me while I was growing up and they called me a no one who's dumb."

The guards gave the wolf a look of sadness as Bogard perked up and stated, "But when I met him, things really turned around. Now look where I am now. On top of the world, I now have respect and we all know how!"

Then shooting more canon balls into the air, forming the face of Agan, Bogard explained, "Thanks to Agan I am no longer weak! Thanks to Agan I can publicly speak! I owe it all to him!"

The wizard smiled and added, "He was hopeless and flimsy until he met me!"

Everyone stared as Jaguar pulled out a series of fireballs, juggling them around without worry. Where they came from no one knew, but the sight of this was truly spectacular. He then proceeded to hurl them towards the guards who screamed in fear only for the spinning wheel of fireballs to stop midway, returning to their owner.

"You see this amazing trick I just used before you, well I couldn't quite do that before," the weasel explained, "In fact, my tricks weren't that great thus I had no support. I was considered a dreadful bore."

While the guards looked at him with interest, he proceeded to say, "But then Agan appeared and offered me so much more. How could I say no? The door to success had appeared to me, and I'd open that door!"

With that, he hurled the wheel of flames into the air as the fireballs separated, spinning around the chandelier as Jaguar exclaimed, "Thanks to Agan, I'm no longer a fool! Thanks to Agan, I'm a more faithful tool! I owe it all to him!"

With that, Agan summoned a large demon as the guards trembled, throwing themselves before him while chanting, "We surrender! You are quite the man! We surrender! You're the one with the plan! We all bow down to you!"

Agan then let out a triumphant laugh before finishing with the statement, "You'd have to be a fool to not hire me!" then grinning at Pete, asked, "So what'll it be?"

The king grinned and shook the wizard's hand and thus it was unanimous. Agan was now the new general, and this was surely a bad thing as he seemed much more threatening than Ingo. As if that wasn't bad enough, he even had his own pair of minions. Sure, Ingo started with minions, but they weren't nearly as dangerous. This spelt bad news for Mickey and his friends.


	16. Chapter 16

The Magical Quest

Mickey and the others had entered another vast area, and this was quite possibly the worst one for them to be in. The air was cold and the ground was covered in snow. This must have been Snowy Valley, the one area most people would rather not explore.

Minnie started to shiver, her teeth chattering as she grumbled, "I should have brought a coat with me," Donald and Mickey doing the same while stating, "You said it."

Goofy simply looked at the three and chuckled at the sight of this saying, "They're cold," as the others stared at him. Sure, Goofy was the only one who really classified as fully clothed among the four, being the only one wearing pants and long sleeves at the same time, but even a jester's outfit wasn't fit for this kind of weather.

Nevertheless, if they were to complete their quest, they knew they would have to ignore this. After all, a lot was at stake.

As the four carried on, a small creature that resembled a lion head with small legs crept up behind Donald and bit into the duck's tail, Donald yelping and turning to face the source, flailing his arms about while throwing a tantrum. However, the lion head had walked to the other side of the duck when he's turned around, so Donald saw nothing. The duck simply laughed at this, realizing how silly he was being until the lion head bit into his tail again, the duck quickly turning around and spotting the beast while shouting, "AHAH!" The lion head simply opened its mouth again, this time biting into the sailor's bill and holding on tight, Donald grumbling, "Why you little," through clenched teeth and attempted to pry the creature off.

"Donald, what are you doing?" Mickey asked, turning to face him when he noticed the lion head latched to the duck's face, chuckling and saying, "Looks like you've made a new friend."

Donald glared at the mouse as a whole group of lion heads entered the area. A few pounced on Goofy and started to lick his face as the dog laughed hysterically. Others rubbed their bodies up against Minnie while purring, some also crowding around Mickey with playful expressions in their eyes.

"How cute!" Minnie exclaimed as Mickey chuckled again and said, "Look, lion... things... we're currently on a journey to rescue my dog from an evil king. We don't have time to play with you."

The lion heads looked down in disappointment, however, the one that had bit Donald earlier, which was now latched to the duck's rear end, released its teeth as it let out a roaring sound at the others. The lion heads smiled and nodded as another one of them marched in front of Mickey and pointed forward. The four travellers smiled at this while the lion heads marched towards a mountainside, coming together to form a big staircase made of lion heads.

The four climbed up and proceeded forward, but not before waving goodbye to their new friends. The lion heads all separated and let out roars of support for the four as Donald looked at the one who had bit him a few times earlier. The duck simply laughed and waved at that particular one, the lion head waving its left leg.

However, after a few more minutes, Mickey, Minnie and Donald started to feel cold again. After all, it really was hard to ignore a climate such as this. Goofy simply looked at this with concern and scratched his head, then smiled and snapped his fingers before pulling out his lute.

"Where did you get a lute?" Mickey asked as Minnie shrugged and replied, "It's best not to question it."

With that, Goofy started to strum the instrument while singing, "I remember my first Winter, it's the coldest day for me! I was shivering all day long, I was cold as cold can be!"

With that, the dog sat atop an odd-looking pink plant and added, "My Momma, she approached me, let me tell you what she said. She said 'My boy, it's not really cold, it's only in your head. There's no cause for panic, there's no cause for alarm, just as long as you forget the weather and think about what's warm'."

Goofy then started to think about many warm things, such as a day of sunbathing at the beach, his novelty hot water bottle, a warm blanket wrapped around him and many other things. The others stared at him strangely as the plant he was sitting leaned to the side due to Goofy's weight being applied to it for too long and sprung back into place, sending the dog flying into a tree. Mickey started to chuckle at the sight of this, and it wasn't long until Minnie and Donald did the same.

Goofy proceeded to poke his head out of a hole in the tree, forcing his lute out and continued to strum the instrument while singing, "A hot Summer's day is a nice thing to think about. A nice bonfire's also nice," then finally getting himself out of the tree, the jester continued, "How about a fresh baked pie? Those are often hot! There's also boiling water cooking rice."

While the jester continued to strum away at his lute, Donald started to think about a nice hot bath, the duck sighing at the thought of it all, his body already starting to warm up. Minnie thought about her warm, elegant bed and had a look of satisfaction on her face. Mickey thought about the first time he'd eaten a roasted ham and the heat that filled his body from that first bite as the surrounding his body melted.

"When you feel cold, do not forget this simple thing," Goofy sang with a big smile on his face, "If you ignore it, you won't feel it, I'm sure you can all agree."

The others laughed and walked off into the distance while singing together, "Just think of the warmest kind of thing you ever saw or felt and you can be sure you won't be cold. You'll be warm as you can be!"

And thus it all came to an end as the four laughed and continued forward. Nothing was going to stop them now, well, at least the cold wouldn't.

Back at Peteland, Agan and his servants were sitting in easy chairs and relaxing. After all, as generals, they didn't have to cook, clean or do any of those things.

"I tell you, boss, things don't get any better than this," Bogard stated as Agan nodded his head replying, "We've got a great gig here, guys. All we have to do is get rid of two mice and a couple of nobodies. That's nothing for us."

At that very moment, Pete stormed into their quarters with a frown on his face, Jaguar looking up at him asking, "How's it going, your highness?"

"Don't 'How's it going' me!" the king retorted, "I need to speak with Agan right now!"

Agan looked up and grinned saying, "Oh, you flatter me, King Pete, but whatever you have to say to me my subjects may hear as well."

"That's the first subject I'd like to discuss," Pete remarked with a look of anger on his face, "First of all, anyone under my roof is MY subject, not yours!"

"Oh, you know what I mean," Agan replied with a grin, "As long as I'm serving you, they're just as much yours to command," as Pete slapped his forehead, the king continuing, "Another thing, I hired you as my second-in-command so you would deal with the princess and her followers. Well, WHY AREN'T YOU DOING THAT!"

Agan let out a sigh and replied, "If I'm not mistaken, you already have a demon to take care of them for you. Seeing as someone as great and powerful as you summoned it and gave it your traits, I fail to see why you'd need us. We are simply backup in case the four of them do get here and you truly need our services."

Strangely enough, these words actually calmed Pete down. The king laughed and said, "Well, I am great and mighty, aren't I? Surely a demon modelled after me shouldn't need help."

"Exactly my point, my liege," Agan stated with a bow of the head, "Now relax, your highness, and leave everything to your servants."

All the while, Mickey and his friends had gotten quite far, down the road when they noticed a ski lodge in the distance. Minnie sighed with relief saying, "Thank goodness. We can rest in there."

The others nodded in agreement and followed the princess towards the lodge as all four ran up to the door. Mickey put on a confident grin and said, "Allow me," knocking on the door. After about twenty seconds, Mickey frowned and knocked a second time.

"Mickey, perhaps no one's in there," Minnie suggested as the peasant let out a sigh, Donald snapping his fingers and grumbling, "Aw, phooey!"

But as luck would have it, the doorknob started to turn at that very moment, all four smiling widely at the sight of this. As the door opened up, a walrus with two legs as opposed to flippers and dressed in ski gear with a face that strangely resembled Pete's stood there with a smile.

"Hello," the walrus said before directing the group into the wooden house saying, "Please, do come in. You must be chilly after walking around out there."

The four shrugged and entered, Donald with a look of fear in his eyes as he muttered, "I have a bad feeling about this."

The walrus walked over to a fireplace and pulled out a match, lighting it and throwing it atop some wood. However, the flame didn't seem to be spreading that fast as the walrus pulled out a small vial, dropping a single droplet of a clear liquid onto it, the fire now burning bright as the walrus laughed, placing the vial away.

"A bit of fish oil I find always does the trick," the man stated, walking over to a chair and sitting down, Mickey and the others sitting on a couch across from him.

"Now, please, tell me your names," the walrus said, "I've never had guests before. I may as well know."

The others looked at one-another as the walrus let out a laugh and exclaimed, "Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself first!"

Mickey stared at the sight of this man laughing as he simply turned to the others. The others didn't seem all that worried except for Donald, who had a look of suspicion on his face. The peasant actually shared the sailor's view right now. This all seemed too convenient, not to mention this walrus's face looked strangely similar to that of the snake and the spider they had previously met.

"My name is Wallaby T. Walrus Wickersham Walter, but you may call me Wally for short," the walrus stated rather proudly before adding, "I am a servant to king Pete, a creature created by him through magic."

As soon as he said those exact words, his four visitors stared wide-eyed. They couldn't believe it. They were in the house of one of Pete's demons. As Wally looked at them as if to ask for their names, Mickey wasn't sure what to do. Dare he tell the man his real name?

This thought process didn't last long as Goofy chuckled, "Ahyuck, nice to meet ya, Wally! I'm Goofy and these are my friends, Mickey, Donald and Minnie!"

The others stared at the jester with shock as the dog added, "Minnie's a princess," before slapping their foreheads. As if introducing them wasn't bad enough, Goofy had basically revealed that Minnie was the very being Pete was after. Had he not heard a word that the walrus had said?

But much to their surprise, Wally didn't turn hostile in the slightest. He didn't even put on an evil grin or anything, nor did he start acting suspicious. He simply smiled compassionately at them and said, "A princess, eh? I had no idea I'd be in the presence of royalty. I would have cleaned the lodge a bit had I known."

"Oh, it's okay," Minnie said with a laugh, "Honestly, I think the lodge is very nice."

"Really?" Wally replied with a blush while the others looked at him strangely. Was this man really one of Pete's demons? He sure as heck didn't act like one.

For the next hour, things seemed to be going well. Wally whipped up a nice batch of hot chocolate, even making a bag lunch for the group. He and Goofy even found something in common: both played the lute. All in all, the four had certainly had a nice time in Wally's lodge but they couldn't stay there forever.

"So long, Wally," Mickey said with a smile, now wearing a winter coat and waving at the walrus, "and thanks for the coats. We really appreciate it."

"Wasn't a problem," the walrus replied with a shrug, "although I'm still wondering why I'd have four coats that don't even fit me in my house..."

Minnie chuckled and bowed to the walrus saying, "Thank you ever so much for the hospitality," Donald adding, "That was really good hot chocolate, too."

Goofy felt as if a simple thank you wouldn't have sufficed. As such, he pulled out his lute and handed it to Wally saying, "Here. You may need to entertain yourself what with your lack of guests and all."

The walrus's eyes sparkled as he held onto the instrument, a tear going down his face as he gave the jester a big hug. And with all said and done, the four left, giving the walrus one last wave as Wally waved back.

"Good luck saving your dog!" he shouted, closing the door as the others froze, their eyes going wide.

Mickey looked at Minnie, about to say something but couldn't let out the words as he, Minnie and Donald just shrugged. Although it was obvious what Mickey was planning to ask. Why had Wally helped them knowing that they were the ones Pete was looking for? Perhaps Wally was the one demon who didn't serve Pete. After all, he was the only one who could speak and was fully evolved. Maybe he just wasn't made evil like the others.

Nonetheless, now was not the time to think about that. The four had come a long way and now it was time to save Pluto. Hopefully, this would be the last area.


	17. Chapter 17

The Magical Quest

The four travellers had been wandering around the Winter wonderland for quite some time, Mickey lowering his head, a look of worry on his face. Minnie saw this and let out a sigh. The peasant was thinking about Pluto again.

The princess placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Cheer up, Mickey. I'm sure we'll be at Peteland soon. At least we didn't have to fight anyone to get through this area, right?"

Mickey looked up at the princess and smiled. She was right. Things actually looked pretty easy now.

Donald smiled at the mouse and said, "Mickey, we'll make it through. Remember what you told me."

"What was that?" the mouse replied as Donald proceeded to state, "Look at this vast world that lays before us! There could be more that's yet to come!"

With that, the duck leaped atop one of the pink springy plants from earlier and bounced off of it across a small gap adding, "This world is big, it's a well-known fact! Our destination might be far ahead!"

Mickey chuckled and followed suit along with the others, the peasant saying, "We battled a snake and came out on top, he didn't stand a chance. We also faced one of Pete's royal guards and came out on top with a heroic stance."

Minnie nodded and added, "A while back, we faced a spider that had fear running through us all," as all she noticed what looked like a snowboard made out of green emerald stating, "But despite that we faced our fears and that arachnid had a very big fall!"

"We fought a head made out of stone with the power to spit out flames," Goofy added as he stepped atop one of the snowboards, the gem-made object slipping downward as the jester did his best to maintain his footing, the others soon climbing onto boards of their own while the dog continued, "It was un-for-toon-ate that he didn't seem to know our names!"

"We also went up against a giant hawk that made us all feel weary," Donald added, performing a series of poses before his head hit a tree branch, the duck rubbing the back of his head and scowling while adding, "But we still pulled through to the end, even though the experience was very scary."

Soon enough, all four started to perform various tricks with the snowboards, Goofy creating a figure eight while all quipped in unison, "If we look deep down inside, we'll find the strength to win! What we lack in size outside, we make up for within!"

Minnie twirled atop her snowboard while adding, "Nothing will stand in our way if we look inside," Mickey performing a handstand before stating, "As long as we just believe, fate is ours too decide!"

With that said, all four continued to slide down the slope together while ending with, "Just as long as we believe, we'll make it through and through! Nothing will ever bring us down as long as we show them what we can do!"

However, this all came to an end when Donald ending up running face-first into something soft and furry. The duck lowered his eyelids, backing up while holding up his fists, shouting, "Hey, wise guy, what's the big idea!"

Suddenly, the creature he had just run into turned around and glared at the others, who were frozen in place before it let out a loud deafening roar. Mickey gulped and started to tremble, the others also in fear while even Donald seemed to be afraid.

This wasn't any ordinary snow creature, mind you. It was an abominable snowman! With its flesh-coloured ape-like hands, its angry yellow eyes and its round build, this was truly a terrible sight. The strange thing was that a chain was wrapped around its body, a big rock attached to the end of it.

"Hello, Mr. Sasquatch," Mickey said while grinning nervously, "Sorry to interrupt whatever it was you were doing. It won't happen again."

The beast ignored the mouse's words and let out a loud roar before lifting up its chain, swinging the rock on the end around like a flail before swinging it at the group, barely missing its target as they narrowly dodged to the side. However, the impact of the attack had caused the ground to vibrate, snow flying upward into the faces of all four.

"What are we going to do?" Minnie asked with concern as her ring started to glow, the princess smiling and saying, "I'd almost forgotten we had these."

With that, Minnie took on her magician's outfit as she fired a blast of magic at the monster's face. The Sasquatch backed up a bit, holding onto where the attack had hit as Mickey's ring glowed as well, the peasant boy taking on his fire fighter form. He spared no time thinking about his next move as he shot a stream of water in front of the beast, the snow rising up around it as a cage made of ice surrounded it.

Goofy's ring also glowed as he found himself with a new outfit. He was now dressed in a cowboy outfit, a pair of pistols by his side. The dog pulled them out and narrowed his eyelids asking, "Y'all want a piece of me, buckaroo?" before chuckling, "Ahyuck, I've always wanted to say that."

With that, the monster let out a loud roar, shattering his ice prison, but before it could strike, Goofy pulled out his pistols and fired a pair of corks between its eyes. Yes, rather than real guns, Goofy had popguns. Well, they seemed to work as the Sasquatch let out a loud roar of pain.

Donald's ring also glowed as he himself had taken on a new form. He was now wearing a small short-sleeved violet jacket with a pink cloth wrapped around his mid-section. Atop his head was a small purple hat (Think of Aladdin's hat) with a pink feather coming out of it. In his hand was an oil lamp.

Donald looked at it and smiled as he realized what this meant, quickly rubbing his lamp as a big white hand emerged from it, shooting a blast of magic above the beast's head. The others stared, wondering how the duck could have missed such a target, but Donald smiled with pride as he pointed to where he'd shot. The three then noticed what Donald's plan was as a row of icicles had been transformed into metal weights, all five falling atop the abominable snowman's head. Clearly Donald's magic had a different power than Mickey and Minnie's.

However, this didn't seem to be quite enough as the monster grumbled, shaking the pain off of its head and letting out another loud roar. It then proceeded to spin the chain around as it flew into the air, landing in front of the others as a large wave of snow sent them flying into the side of the hill they had just ridden down, their forms leaving them. What were they to do now?

However, just as things looked their absolute worst, all five beings paused when they heard the sound of something sliding quickly down the hill. Mickey slowly turned his head towards the sound, his eyes widening as he saw a familiar walrus riding down the slope on a snowboard of his own.

The others turned to face him as well, smiles on their faces as the Sasquatch gulped, the walrus ramming into it and sending it tumbling across the ground into a mountainside. As the monster lay there, Mickey ran over to the walrus and exclaimed, "Wally! You came all this way to save us!"

"I couldn't let my new friends die," Wally said with a serious look, the abominable snowman slowly rising back to its feet as the walrus exclaimed, "Get out of here! You're no match for this monster!"

"But what about you?" Minnie asked as Wally turned to the four and snapped, "Forget about me! Just go!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Donald replied, scampering to leave the area as Mickey pulled on the back of the duck's collar, Donald now in panic while the mouse stated, "We're not leaving you behind. We already let Ingo die. We can't lose you too."

"So the rumours of his death were true," Wally replied with a sigh, "Look, Mickey, your best friend's freedom is at stake. You've come all this way to save him. Are you really going to throw that away?"

Mickey's look of concern turned to one of uncertainty. Now he wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, he didn't know whether or not Wally could stand up to the Sasquatch. On the other hand, the walrus was right. He and his friends had dealt with all kinds of pain and torment to get this far. They couldn't throw it all away now.

As such, the mouse nodded with a serious look in his eyes as he directed the others to follow him, Minnie and Goofy gulping while Donald embraced Mickey as if to thank him for his decision. Of course, all four didn't feel in the least bit good about letting Wally fight this battle for their sakes, but it was like he said. What could they do to help?

The monster attempted to stop them from going around him, but Wally wouldn't allow this as he pointed his fingers out, shooting icicles at the Sasquatch's feet, the monster now frozen in place. As it soon broke free from its shackles, Wally proceeded to shoot a set of snowballs from his mouth, all slapping themselves hard against the beast's face.

While the Sasquatch was distracted, Wally proceeded to hold his fist back, soon reeling it back and slamming it hard into the monster's face, the beast flying back into the mountainside as Wally charged in to deliver another strike. During this time, Mickey and the others had managed to walk far enough from the area to be safe, but not too far to see the fight taking place.

"Seems we were worried for nothing," Mickey stated as Goofy chuckled, "Ahyuck, Wally's tough!"

But nobody was prepared for what happened next. Just as Wally closed in in the monster, the abominable snowman regained focus, shaking its head before sending its chain forward, the rock on the end slamming hard up against the walrus's face.

Wally's eyes went wide, his mouth wide open and a huge bruise now on his cheek as the man coughed up a red liquid. Mickey couldn't believe what he was seeing. The monster had actually caused Wally to draw blood.

As Wally lay on the ground, his body twitched, Goofy biting his fingernails as the Sasquatch lifted up its foot, planting it hard against the walrus's face. When Wally hacked up a ghost that resembled Pete, it was obvious what had just happened. Wally was dead.

Mickey placed his hands against his mouth, his eyes going wide as Minnie started to break out in tears, Minnie soon removing his hands from his mouth and patting the princess on the back, a tear now running down his face. Donald gulped, his eye twitching a little until, the duck biting his lower bill before breaking out in heavy waterworks, holding onto Goofy and crying into the jester's coat, Goofy patting Donald on the back with tears of his own. The four had only just met the walrus and had already lost him.

"If only we could have done more," Mickey sniffed, Minnie wiping a tear before saying, "We did the best we could. Besides, I think Wally knew he wouldn't win."

Mickey then stopped crying and stared at the sight of the abominable snowman yawning and entering a nearby cave, the mouse giving Wally's lying body an army salute before signalling the others to follow him once more. The three nodded and followed suit, knowing exactly what Mickey was thinking. As tragic as Wally's death was, it would have been in vain had they gone back and tried to avenge him. If anything, they needed Wally's sacrifice to mean something.

Back in Peteland, the king had just received word that his demon had been vanquished. Much like before, he had sent in a patrol bat to write down a report telling of the events that had occurred.

"My last demon is dead..." the king said, fear now taking over as the guard reading the note cleared his throat, ready to read the rest of the report, but Pete simply looked down at the man saying, "I've heard enough," the guard adding, "But this next part's kind of important."

"I don't care!" the king retorted, the guard shrugging and rolling up the scroll while Pete sighed, "I can't believe it. Those four kids killed all five of my beautiful demons. Now they're coming here."

With that in mind, the king stood up tall and proud and shouted, "AGAN! GET IN HERE!"

Agan entered in a puff of smoke while bowing before asking, "What is it, sire?"

"Those kids are coming here," the king said with a grimace, "Now remember, you and your associates had better keep your end of the bargain. I expect you to take good care of them, if you know what I mean!"

"But of course, my liege," the wizard replied with a grin, "Your wish is my command."


	18. Chapter 18

The Magical Quest

After a few minutes of walking, the four heroes found themselves standing before another Pete statue. Mickey looked at it with an uneasy look as if he felt something on the other side. Minnie patted the boy on the shoulder as the peasant nodded, putting on a more serious look. It was too late to turn back now, after all.

And so the four entered as they soon found themselves in a city, the statue placed in an alleyway. In fact, the statue was faced upward in a garbage disposal thus the group had to climb out of it. Clearly, Pete's subjects had very little respect for him, and could you really blame them?

They couldn't believe their eyes. What kind of sad world was this? The sky was full of clouds so there was no sunlight, only the light of the torches scattered around the place. All of the citizens lived in run-down cottages and shacks, all of which looked like they were on the verge of collapsing. Coincidentally, one was actually missing a wall.

Mickey and Minnie looked at this with disgust as Donald simply stared at the poor townsfolk. They made his life as a peasant look like paradise.

Most of all, it was warm here, thus the four took off their coats and left them near the statue. It wasn't like they needed the things at this point. This couldn't be Peteland, could it? Well, it was made perfectly clear when Goofy chuckled, pointing at a castle at the edge of town. This castle was huge, so there was no way anyone could miss it.

"Well, we finally made it," Mickey said with a gulp as the group advanced toward the castle.

As they walked around, something horrifying caught Minnie's eyes, the princess staring at the sight with a look of concern. What she saw was pulling around a wheelbarrow full of gold coins and meat talking to a peasant. But how was this a bad thing? Well, what they were talking about was cause for alarm.

"I'm so sorry," the peasant said with a pathetic look on his face as he groveled and pleaded, "Please give me more time! I promise I'll make five coins by the end of the day!"

"Sorry, but tax collection is today!" the guard snapped, then noticing a piece of cheese in the man's pocket shoved his sword into it, pulling out the dairy food while saying, "This'll cover it nicely."

As the guard carried on, the peasant broke out into tears crying, "That was my dinner!" as Minnie's eyes narrowed. The princess marched over to the peasant and knelt down, placing a hand on his shoulder and handing him a small bag full of coins. The peasant looked at the bag and shifted his eyes around, whispering, "Thank you," into the princess's ear before running off toward a nearby shop.

"C'mon, Minnie," Mickey said, signalling her to follow him and the others as the princess nodded and caught up with him saying, "Sorry. It just pains me to see people suffering like that."

Mickey blushed after she'd said that, chuckling a little. This was part of the reason he loved Minnie so much. She was such a caring mouse.

However, their trip toward the castle was cut short when another guard walked by and held his sword up against Donald's collar asking, "Excuse me, sir, but where did you get such expensive clothes?"

"Hey, let go of me!" Donald snapped, throwing his fists forward as one attempt actually managed to hit the guard in the face. The man grimaced before sheathing his sword and shouting, "This just got personal!" before leaping at Donald, pinning the duck to the ground and proceeding to punch the sailor repeatedly in the face.

"Hey, get off of my friend!" Mickey spat, grabbing onto the guard's shoulders as the man rammed his elbow hard into the mouse's face, Mickey backing off and noticing a small bit of blood dripping from his nose, the mouse fuming and tackling the guard, he and Donald both proceeding to give the man the beating of his life.

Minnie slapped her forehead, Goofy cheering the two on while a group of other peasants joined in with Goofy's cheering. Having lived under Pete's rule for so long, it was only natural that a lot of them wished they could have done the same thing.

However, this was all cut short soon enough when more guards appeared, prying Mickey and Donald away from the other one who slowly got up, breathing heavily and glaring angrily at the two. Mickey and Donald tried to fight back as the citizens watching left the area, knowing it wasn't a good idea to get involved with this.

"Hey, you let go of my friends!" Minnie spat as one of the guards examined her and pointed at the girl shouting, "It's Princess Minnie! Arrest her and her friends!"

Minnie narrowed her eyelids as she grabbed one by the arm, lifted him up and tossed him into a nearby trashcan. However, that was as far as she would go as the guards soon overwhelmed her and held the princess by the arms. Goofy looked at this with concern and narrowed his eyelids.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" the jester asked as he pulled a rope made of handkerchiefs out from under his sleeve and wrapped it around some of the guards, swiftly pulling it back as the guards spun into a nearby wall, stars dancing around their heads as their eyes started to spin.

However, this little miracle didn't last long as one of the guards crept up behind the jester and held tightly onto the dog's hands, making sure he wouldn't pull anymore funny business. Goofy would have started up his rocket shoes, but he'd actually wasted the oil in them when he used them on Ingo.

And that was that. The four were dragged off to the castle basement and locked behind bars in a single cell. Minnie looked at the sight of thirty villagers within the cell and put on a look of anger. If recent experience was any indicator, these citizens had most likely committed no real crimes.

However, her look of anger turned to one of concern when she saw Mickey sitting down with his head facing the floor, a tear running down his face and his hands held together. He let out a sigh as Minnie made her way over to him, the peasant looking up for a few seconds before returning to staring at the ground.

"It's okay, Mickey," the princess said, patting him on the shoulder, "We'll just look for a way out."

"I got an idea," Goofy suggested with a big smile, "I'll dig us out!" before Donald glared at the dog and retorted, "With what?" as Goofy placed his finger against his chin for a few seconds, putting on a disappointed look as he slumped down.

"What's the point?" Mickey asked, "We'll just end up captured again," Minnie replying, "Don't say that," as Mickey remarked, "You know it's true."

Mickey then blinked, letting out a sigh before saying, "I thought that deep down inside of my soul, a hero was waiting to be let out. But who am I kidding, I'm just a mere peasant," as Minnie shook her head and replied, "You've no clue what you're on about."

"Oh, but I do," Mickey replied, looking up briefly before turning back to the ground adding, "I really do right now. I thought that could save my dog, but I had no idea how."

Looking up at the ceiling, the mouse proceeded to say, "Look where heroism's gotten me. I should have just stayed at home," Minnie gasping before cutting in and stating, "Would my royal guards have made it this far?" Mickey asking, "Why did I have to roam?"

"Mickey, don't be ridiculous," Minnie remarked, "Your heart was in the right place. We've come so far. You can't give up now. How can you just lose face?"

"Minnie, think realistically, we're finished," Mickey replied, "We're done, we're through. There's nothing left in this world that we can do. We tried our best but it wasn't enough. Now we're stuck inside a cell. Now there's nothing that can save us from the fiery pits of..." then looking at the readers, shrugged and refused to finish the statement.

As Mickey held his hands over his eyes, tears running down his face, Minnie placed a hand on the peasant's shoulder and let out a sigh. Donald and Goofy looked at this with concern. The princess had all the reason to worry. Mickey had really given up. That wasn't like him.

With that in mind, Donald got up and said, "It's time I set everything right," the duck marching over to Mickey while Goofy stared with confusion. This was new for Donald.

The duck marched over to Mickey, rolled up his sleeve and smacked the peasant upside the head as Mickey held onto it, staring at Donald and asking, "What was that for?" as the duck narrowed his eyelids shouting, "Mickey, snap out of it!"

Mickey blinked as the duck proceeded to say, "You were the one who kept saying that if we believe, we can do anything we set our minds to! Are you really going to give up just because we're in a jail cell? If anything, this is the least threatening obstacle we've faced so far!"

Mickey stared, blinking again as he asked, "Donald, what did you just say? I couldn't make out a word of that," as Minnie stated, "What Donald's trying to say is that we can't just give up because things are against us. Think about it, Mickey, we've faced much worse than this."

The mouse's eyes widened as he thought hard about that statement. They were right. After all, he'd faced a giant snake, a huge spider, a fire demon, a hawk, a Sasquatch and a persistent imp, avoiding certain death every time. Being locked in a cell was nothing compared to all of that.

With that in mind, the mouse rose to his feet with a look of confidence as he exclaimed, "You're right, guys! I don't know what I was thinking!"

With that, the mouse's ring glowed as he became is wizard form, shooting a powerful burst of magic at one of the bars thus blowing it off of its hinges. The other prisoners looked at this and cheered as Mickey blew off bars to their cells as well. However, the peasants didn't move.

"What are you doing?" Mickey asked as one of the peasants stated, "If we run, the guards will catch us. We'll wait here so not to create a stir. If we follow, the guards will know you've escaped."

That was a good point. After all, the element was surprise was always the best method for getting past tight security. Thus he, Minnie, Donald and Goofy made a run for it. Nothing was going to stop them now.

At that moment, Pete was sitting in his throne room with an uneasy look on his face. However, his look of fear turned to confidence as soon as a guard walked in, giving the king an army salute while saying, "We've found the princess and her servants, sir! They've all been captured and locked in a basement cell!"

A smile came over Pete's face as he laughed wickedly saying, "Excellent work, soldier. I didn't need Agan after all," however, at that very moment, that very wizard entered the room, Pete grinning and saying, "Well, guess what, Mr. General. My guards caught the princess and her followers."

"Actually, that's what I'm here to discuss," the wizard said, conjuring up the king's cauldron and using his magic to form an image within the liquid. Pete's eyes went wide, the guard staring with shock as the image showed the the four heroes walking through the halls and taking out any guards they came across.

"Oh no, they're still coming," Pete gulped as Agan grinned and replied, "Don't worry, Pete. Remember, you have us," as the king started to calm down and said, "That's right," then putting on a serious expression stated, "Agan, you and your men are too deal with them in any way possible, got it?" then remembered something important, adding, "but keep the princess alive."

"Yes, your majesty," the wizard replied, bowing before vanishing from the room in a puff of smoke. Nothing was going to stop Pete from ruling both kingdoms. Agan, Bogard and Jaguar were perfect for the job, right?


	19. Chapter 19

The Magical Quest

While the earlier conversation took place, Pluto had been listening. His eyes filled up with hope, a big smile forming on his face when he'd heard that Mickey and his friends had broken out of their cells. He didn't even seem to mind the fact that Agan and his subjects were going to try to stop them. The dog had no doubt in his mind that his beloved owner would rescue him.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, a guard was simply standing around with a bored look on his face. The cat looked back and forth, making sure no one else was around as he quickly scratched his rear end, a look of satisfaction now taking the bored look's place.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind the guard and pulled him behind one of the castle's support beams as the sound of someone being beaten could be heard. Soon, the sound died down as Mickey emerged, now dressed in the guard's outfit, the others joining him while also wearing guard uniforms.

"Ahyuck, I feel manly," Goofy chuckled, Minnie looking uneasy as she asked, "Are you sure these outfits will work? If you haven't noticed, every guard in this castle is a cat."

"Your point being?" Goofy replied as the princess glanced at the jester before asking, "Are we cats?" Goofy chuckling, "Of course not! That's just silly! It's obvious that I'm a dog, Donald's a duck and you and Mickey are mouses."

Minnie gave the jester a nod as Goofy pondered this, soon realizing what she meant and asking, "Say, Mick, are you really sure these dees-kizez will work?"

Donald had an uneasy look upon hearing that question. What if the disguises failed? They may very well have to fight every guard in the castle if that were to happen.

"Aw, shucks," Mickey replied with a confident smile, "I doubt these guards are smart enough to notice."

With that said, Mickey boldly opened the door to the dining hall where a few servants were cleaning up from lunch earlier. Mickey simply marched by them with a look of certainty on his face, the others trying their best not to break their cover as one of the cleaners looked at Donald and blinked.

One of the cleaners simply shrugged and asked, "Didn't know Pete was hiring other animals now," as the other asked, "Are we even supposed to acknowledge the fact that we're animals?"

"You see?" Mickey asked as the group entered another room, "Nothing to it!"

However, just as they were about to exit, a box fell in front of them, their eyes going wide. Suddenly, the box opened up as a weasel dressed in a jester's outfit emerged with a goofy look on his face. Donald panicked and almost passed out, Goofy catching him and chuckling.

"Hey, look, they have an entertain-ier too!" the dog stated as the weasel grinned and said, "Yes, but I'm not exactly a royal fool, if you catch my drift."

That said, the weasel tapped his finger against the box he'd emerged from, the box bursting into flame before burning up into nothing while the others simply stared. The weasel then proceeded to pull out an assortment of fireballs, hurling them at the uniforms as they soon expanded due to the intense heat, falling off of each wearer's body.

"Did you really think I would fall for that?" the weasel asked with a sneer, "I mean, really, you're not even cats!"

Donald placed his hands against his sides, glaring at Mickey as the mouse shrugged, a nervous smile on his face. The jester then conjured up more fireballs, juggling them while stating, "I am Jaguar, King Pete's tactical expert in combat."

"Then why are you dressed like a jester?" Mickey asked as the weasel narrowed his eyelids remarking, "I'm juggling blazing hot fireballs right now. I don't think you're in any position to question my sense of fashion."

With that, he hurled the fireballs forward as they stayed in their wheel-like state. The group barely dodged them as they returned to the weasel like a boomerang, Donald noticing his tail feathers on fire as he panicked, rolling around to put it out.

With that, Goofy narrowed his eyelids as he pressed his hand against his spray flower, the water from the flower dousing one of the fireballs, Jaguar's eyes going wide. The jester then said, "For a court jester, you're not all that entertaining! I bet I could out-fool you!"

The others stared as the dog turned to them and said, "Y'all better go on ahead! I'll handle this!"

"But, Goofy..." Mickey pleaded as the dog gave the other three a serious look, the group seeing the seriousness in the jester as Mickey nodded, signalling the others to follow him.

As much as it pained Minnie, it really did seem like Goofy wanted to take Jaguar on his own. How could she refuse such a request from such a kind and friendly man? As such, the three headed for the exit, Jaguar replacing the burned out fireball and shouting, "NOT SO FAST!"

However, before the weasel could stop them, Goofy's ring glowed as he took on his cowboy form, shooting a cork into the back of the weasel's head. This caused Jaguar to fall forward, dropping his fireballs as they flew into the air, descending toward the weasel's head. Luckily, Jaguar was a master of fire, so when the fireballs closed in, the weasel simply held up his hands, grabbing on and made a juggling motion, the others following it and resuming their wheel-like state.

"Thank, Goofy!" Minnie quipped as she and the others fled the room, Goofy smiling with confidence before turning back to Jaguar who slowly rose to his feet, a look of fury in his eyes.

"You are so going to pay for that!" the weasel exclaimed as he hurled his fireballs at the dog, Goofy shooting a pair of corks forward only for the flames to burn them upon contact, Goofy barely jumping to the side in time to avoid the fireballs. One thing was for certain: Beating a jester of this kind was going to be difficult.

As the others headed down the hallway, Minnie looked back with concern as Mickey sighed, "Don't worry, Minnie. I'm sure Goofy will be okay."

The princess nodded, but was still unsure about this. Perhaps Jaguar was out of the dog's league. After all, he was a tactical fighter whereas Goofy was just a jester. How could they be so sure that even the rings could help him?

Either way, they had gone too far now. They couldn't just turn back. As such, the three progressed down the halls, dealing with any guards that attacked them. After all, without their disguises, they pretty much had to fight. Luckily for them, the guards didn't seem all that powerful in smaller numbers.

Soon, the three found themselves in an empty room. There wasn't anything special about this particular area. It was just empty. Perhaps it just wasn't worth guarding. However, as the three advanced towards the door to what they assumed was the next hallway, they were shocked to see a wolf wearing armour emerge from behind one of the support beams.

The wolf held two cannons in hand as he laughed and shouted, "And where do you think you're going!"

"I'm here to save my dog!" Mickey retorted, folding his arms as the wolf pointed his canons at the mouse saying, "You won't be going anywhere, pal!"

"Says who!" the mouse remarked as the wolf laughed, firing a pair of cannonballs at the peasant, who narrowly dodged to the side in time to avoid it, the resulting explosion sending him and the others into the wall, the wolf stating, "For your information, I am Bogard, King Pete's new weapon..."

Then a dumbfounded look covered his face as he scratched his head asking, "Now, what was it Agan called me again? Weapon... person... thing?" then after a few more seconds, he snapped his fingers and quipped, "That's it! I'm King Pete's weapons expert!"

The three rubbed their heads, Mickey grunting as the wolf turned to the mouse, firing two more cannonballs at him. Just as it seemed the peasant was doomed, Donald glares, rolling up his sleeves. He was tired of letting the others help him with his problems. Now was the time to take action on his own.

With that in mind, he immediately leaped in front of Mickey, taking in the blow as the explosion sent him reeling back into the wall, the duck's feathers now covered in soot. Mickey and Minnie stared in shock as they ran over to their friend with worry, Bogard laughing insanely at his handiwork.

"Are you okay?" Mickey asked as Donald's ring glowed, the sailor taking on his barrel knight form before slowly rising back to his feet and breathing heavily, shaking off the soot covering his body and saying, "Mickey, Minnie, I'll handle things from here."

"But..." Mickey pleaded, Donald giving the peasant a serious look as the mouse nodded before saying, "Be careful, Donald. This guy's dangerous."

As Bogard was about to prevent the couple's escape, Donald stood before him, holding up his mallet majestically while shouting, "If you want to get to them, you'll have to get through me!"

Bogard turned his attention to Donald before biting his lower lip, his eyes filling up with tears and the sound of stifling coming from the wolf. Soon enough, he lost all control as he broke out into hysterics, holding onto the front of his armour and slapping his knee, laughing insanely as Donald's ridiculous look. The duck couldn't help but feel insulted as he frowned, the wolf continuing his laughter while Mickey and Minnie made their escape.

Turning his gaze to the door and wiping a tear, Bogard tried his hardest to stop laughing while shouting, "L-l-look at th-that! HAHAHAHAHA! The-they're g-getting away! HAHAAAAAAAHAHAHA!"

Then finally calming down and breathing heavily, the wolf let out a quick bit of air escape his mouth as he said, "Okay, Mr. Duck, I'm ready."

Donald rolled his eyes as the wolf continued, "I'm sorry, but you just look so stupid wearing that barrel! And come on, a cooking pot? Why not have a spiked helmet like me?"

The sailor gritted his teeth, charging towards Bogard who still hadn't quite gotten over the sight of Donald's form and rammed his mallet into the wolf's face, Bogard's eyes going wide as he backed up a bit, rubbing his snout. Now it was time for him to get serious. How dare this insolent peasant do such a thing to him?

"You're going to pay for that," Bogard said in a serious tone, aiming his cannons at the duck and firing the cannonballs. Unfortunately for Donald, he couldn't dodge to the incredible increase in weight his armour gave him. As such, the duck tucked his head into it hoping to survive the blast. Unfortunately for him, the explosion from the balls caused the duck's armour to blast open, leaving the duck exposed as he panicked, his ring glowing once again, the sailor now in a green robe.

Donald probably would have been happy with this except for one problem? How would a rope made for climbing help him against an enemy who was covered from head to toe in armour with only a few openings? Such an idea seemed more absurd than trying to overpower gold and silver with a barrel. Either way, he knew this was going to be tough.

Meanwhile, Agan was watching the cauldron from within Pete's throne room, the king glaring at the wizard and asking, "Are you sure your partners can handle them without your help?"

"I have all the confidence in the world in those two," the magician replied before noticing something odd within the cauldron, his eyes going wide.

Pete gave him a look as if to ask what was going on as Agan grinned nervously. He had, of course, seen in the cauldron proof that Mickey and Minnie had escaped from his servants. However, the fact that the other two were missing gave him a slight boost in self-esteem.

"Uh... sire..." the wizard said nervously, tugging on his collar before saying, "I'm afraid my services are needed," before vanishing in a puff of smoke, Pete rolling his eyes muttering, "It figures."

And that was that. Goofy and Donald was each facing one of Agan's minions while the wizard had gone off to stop Mickey and Minnie from reaching the throne room. Could they possibly get past him?


	20. Chapter 20

The Magical Quest

While Mickey and Minnie walked down the long hallway, they started to grow suspicious. Earlier, many guards were on duty, making sure they wouldn't make it to wherever Pluto was being kept. Now it seemed all too quiet. Was the king so overconfident in Jaguar and Bogard that he didn't feel the need to send in other guards or was this a trap?

Minnie turned her gaze toward the opposite direction with a look of worry on her face as Mickey sighed, "Don't worry, Minnie, I'm sure they'll be okay."

The princess wasn't all too confident about this. Sure, they had faced huge monsters in order to make it this far, but they had overcome every challenge together. Now that Donald and Goofy were fighting by themselves, who could say whether or not they would stand a chance?

Either way, the mice had come too far to stop now. Their friends had chosen to stay behind and fight. They knew what they had gotten themselves into.

As the two reached a door at the end of the hall, Mickey slowly opened it, the duo looking back and forth while entering. For all they knew, Pete's subjects could very well have been hiding somewhere within the room. However, it didn't seem to be the case... that was until a large puff of smoke appeared.

Mickey and Minnie covered their eyes, coughing up a bit of smoke they'd inhaled as it soon faded, a wolf dressed in wizard garments standing before them. The wolf proceeded to bow before saying, "Ah, Princess Minnie and her servant boy, I presume. I'm charmed to be in your presence."

"Hey, that's Mickey Mouse to you!" Mickey retorted as the wizard blinked and asked, "Wait, if you two aren't siblings, then why do you have the same last name?"

The two mice turned to one-another and shrugged. That was actually a good question. But that would have to wait as the wizard simply waved his hands in front of his face saying, "Never mind that now. We have other matters to discuss."

With that, the wolf rose his arms into the air, a small explosion forming as a large Chinese dragon emerged from it, the man laughing insanely before explaining, "You may think you stand a chance, but you can't be more wrong!"

Mickey rose his fists as the dragon flew towards him, the wizard adding, "Your false hope and all your faith have been here too long."

The dragon then turned its head to the side, latching its jaws around Mickey's body before sending the peasant into the wall, Minnie staring with shock as the dragon vanished, Mickey sliding down the wall while the wizard continued, "I applaud you both for your work. I bet you could make it here again. That is if you're not destroyed by me, Agan!"

Minnie fumed as Mickey slowly rose to his feet only for Agan to send a torrent of flames toward him, surrounding the mouse's body with cell bars made of fire, the wizard stating, "So this fool, Mickey, is nothing more than a weakling. I must say, I was expecting oh so much more."

The princess watched in horror as the bars turned into a twister made of fire that slowly closed in towards Mickey's body while Agan added, "The fact he dares oppose Pete is more than reason enough to send him on a trip to the afterlife, and you may never see him again! He'll never see the light of day, oh no, and let me tell you, that's fine with me!"

Minnie glared as Agan finished with, "The great Agan!" as the flames came closer, the princess's ring glowing as Minnie took on her fire fighter form, shooting a stream of water toward the flames and putting them out, Mickey blinking before breathing a sigh of relief.

Minnie then turned to Agan with fury in her eyes as she spat, "It's me you want, isn't it! Leave Mickey out of this!"

Agan blinked at the sight of this before a wicked grin crossed his face, the wizard chuckling before saying, "I have to say, princess, that is quite commendable. In fact, you could even say it has touched my heart."

With that, Agan shot a burst of magic towards the door as it opened up, the wizard pointing at it as Mickey turned to Minnie with a look of worry, shaking his head. However, Minnie simply gave the peasant a soothing smile as the mouse took a deep breath, nodded and quickly made his way towards the exit. All the while, he prayed that Minnie make it out alive. After all, she meant the world to him.

"That really is touching, you know," Agan said, "Almost enough to bring a tear to my eye, in fact. It's too bad I'm evil."

Minnie simply turned to the sorcerer and scowled, aiming her hose at the wolf who simply laughed and lifted his arms in the air, a pair of magical hands forming. Minnie shot a blast of water at one of them but to no avail as it made its way towards her, placing its fingers together before flicking her into the wall. The other headed towards the princess and slapped itself hard into her body, the mouse groaning in pain now while Agan broke out in insane laughter. It seemed as if Minnie didn't stand a chance against someone so powerful.

All the while, Mickey ran through the halls with anger and tears in his eyes. In truth, he really was worried about his friends. Donald was going up against a cannon-wielding psycho, Goofy was facing one with the power to control fire and Minnie's opponent was a high-class sorcerer. All three were very dangerous to fight by one's self and that was exactly what the three heroes were doing.

But again, they already knew this. They had chosen to face certain doom head-on. There was nothing Mickey could have done to change their minds. Besides, they had done this for his sake. He couldn't let their sacrifices be in vain. Pluto was still waiting for him.

Back in the dining hall, Goofy fired another pair of corks towards Jaguar who simply leaped to the side, the corks bouncing off the walls behind the weasel and hitting the back of his head. Jaguar gritted his teeth with fury as he once again hurled the wheel of fireballs towards Goofy. The dog rolled to the side in time to dodge the flames, but not fast enough to prevent his cowboy hat from being burnt to a crisp, his entire outfit being replaced by his fencing uniform.

Jaguar's fireballs returned as the weasel blinked, Goofy thrusting his sword forward while shouting, "En guarde!"

"This is even more inconvenient for you than your last form!" the weasel snapped as he sent the fireballs towards Goofy again, the dog twirling it blade in front of him. Jaguar's eyes went, his jaw dropped as surprisingly, Goofy's blade emitted a strong wind current that put out the fireballs.

Jaguar proceeded to fold his sleeves up grunting, "So, you wanna play it that way, do ya?" then proceeded to conjure up a sword of his own, this one made entirely out of fire.

The weasel and the dog proceeded to match blades, each swinging his sword at the other, the sword locking each time. This was it, the moment that could very well decide the outcome of the battle. Whichever one of the two lost his blade first could have very well lost.

Unfortunately, it was heavily in Jaguar's favour, Goofy's eyes going wide as he noticed something dripping off his blade. He soon noticed that this strange liquid was the same colour as the blade.

Putting on a confused look, the jester asked, "Uh, Mr. Jaguar, sir, can metal melt?" as Jaguar grinned wickedly before answering, "As a matter of fact, it can, my silly-looking friend."

And sure enough, Jaguar's words were true as a few seconds later, the fencing blade was now nothing more than a puddle of liquid metal. Goofy gulped before grinning nervously, Jaguar wasting no time in swinging his blade at the jester, Goofy now in panic as he narrowly dodged the first strike, backing up and dodging more. Who knew how long this would keep up?

Meanwhile, Donald was dodging cannonballs by the second, Bogard laughing while taunting, "You were better off with that squeaky toy you called a weapon!"

As another pair of cannonballs flew towards the duck, Donald tried to dodge to the side only to trip over his robe, stumbling and falling flat on his face. Sure, the cannonballs flew over his head thus missing him completely, but Bogard couldn't help laughing at this display.

Then Donald realized it. Bogard's sense of humor could very well be his downfall. Each time the wolf started laughing, he seemed unable to focus on anything other than his own laughter. This was Donald's chance.

As such, he pulled out his rope and whipped it towards the wolf's legs, the rope latching itself around the wolf's ankles. Bogard soon stopped laughing and noticed Donald with a look of confidence and his rope thrown forward. The wolf then proceeded to look down, his eyes going wide when he noticed the rope around him.

"Gotcha!" Donald exclaimed as he gracefully pulled the rope towards him, Bogard's feet sliding forward as the wolf lost his balance, falling on his back. As if this wasn't humiliating enough, his helmet split in two upon hitting the tile floor.

Donald returned his rope to his side as the wolf slowly rose to his feet, a look of frustration on his face as he groaned, "Clever..." before noticed the two halves of his spiked helmet on the floor. His eyes went wide as he picked up the fragments, his look of frustration soon replaced with a look of rage, the wolf letting out a loud, deafening howl.

He then proceeded to turn his gaze back to Donald, the duck gulping as Bogard fumed, steam shooting from his nostrils as he spat, "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY DEARLY FOR THAT!"

With that, he held up his cannons firing in every direction, Donald ducking down for dear life. It seemed the bird had made a terrible mistake. Now Bogard was even more dangerous than before.

All the while, Minnie had taken in quite a lot from Agan's magic hands as the wizard grinned wickedly, saying, "That magic water spitting thing won't save you from this. Why not just give up?"

The princess took in a hard back-hand to the face as she rolled into the wall, her eyes spinning as her fire fighter outfit vanished. However, rather than changing back to her regular clothes, Minnie was instead wearing her mountain climbing gear.

The mouse regained focus as she noticed the grappling hook in her hand asking, "Why did the ring choose this form?" but couldn't dwell on that further as she noticed another hand coming towards her.

However, Minnie was ready for this as she soon realized how she could use the hook to her advantage. As such, she hurled it over the hand, the hook latching itself to the back as Minnie pulled herself up. Agan's eyes went wide, the wizard's jaw dropped and his guard down as the princess proceeded to leap off of the hand, planting her feet hard into the wolf's face, Agan falling hard against the floor on his back, the magic hands finally vanishing.

"Darn it!" the wizard cursed, snapping his fingers as he slowly rose back to his feet, "Now I can't summon another pair for two hours!"

Then regaining his composure and wiping some dust off of his outfit, the sorcerer took a deep breath before saying, "I have to admit, princess, you are quite clever. However, this doesn't mean you've won."

Minnie simply glared at the wizard, but her look of confidence wasn't sincere. The truth was she had no idea how to use her mountain climbing gear against Agan's other spells. Let alone that fact, how was she so sure she would get close enough to hit him again?

That thought would have to wait as the wizard conjured up an army of bats, the bats soaring towards Minnie. Luckily, this didn't seem all too effective as Minnie used her hook to grab one of the bats by the wing. She then proceeded to reel it in, hurling the creature towards it comrades as all of the bats fell to the ground.

Unfortunately, the bats had been a diversion as Agan used that time to conjure up a cage made of fire that surrounded Minnie, the princess's confident look turning to one of fear. She knew what was coming next as she braced herself, the bars changing into a twister, closing in on her body as she flames soon dissipated, revealing that Minnie's outfit had been burned up, her grappling hook now gone and her body covered in burns.

Minnie fell on her knees, her regular clothes returning as Agan laughed wickedly before stating, "You probably should have let your boyfriend help you. I wonder if he's reached the throne room yet. I wouldn't mind taking him down a peg or two."

The princess glared in response to that, fury in her expression as Agan looked with interest, a more juvenile grin forming as he said, "Oh, this is too much."

Minnie gritted her teeth as the wizard laughed before adding, "You know, I was only kidding about the boyfriend remark, but after seeing that face, I'm starting to think otherwise."

Minnie slowly rose to her feet as her ring glowed, the princess now taking on her magician form as Agan's devious grin returned, the wizard saying, "So you still have some fight in you. Good. I was a tad disappointed by your earlier performance."


	21. Chapter 21

The Magical Quest

Mickey continued to run down the hallway with a look of determination in his eyes. His doubt was starting to leave him now. Surely his friends would be okay. He could just feel it. But most important of all, he couldn't let their sacrifices distract him from what he'd come all this way for.

Goofy was finally backed up into a corner as Jaguar held his sword up, a wicked grin on his face as he said, "Well, you have nowhere else to go now."

However, just as things seemed their worst, the jester's ring started to glow once more as soon enough, his fencing outfit was replaced by his Arabian entertainer gear. Jaguar froze to a few seconds, blinking at the sight of this as he asked, "Is that seriously all you have left?"

Luckily, this was big enough of a distraction for Goofy to pull out two flaming batons, spinning them in front of his face and knocking the weasel's sword out of his hand. The sword dissipated into nothing as Goofy rammed the batons into Jaguar's gut, the weasel backing up before noticing a flame now engulfing the front of his outfit.

But rather than try to put it out like most would have, Jaguar instead held his hand up against it and lifted it up, rolling it up into a fireball, much like how people rolled snow into snowballs. After all, the weasel could control fire, right?

But it didn't end there as Jaguar formed more fireballs, starting up his juggling act a second time. Goofy simply chuckled at the sight of this before quipping, "Two can play at that game!" pulling out five flaming batons and juggling them around himself.

However, for the first time, Goofy felt a little nervous. He wasn't exactly a juggling expert, and Jaguar could see it on the dog's face. With that in mind, Jaguar knew he would win.

As Jaguar hurled his fireballs toward the other jester, Goofy threw his batons forward. But unlike the fireballs, which always stayed in a perfect wheel formation, Goofy simply scattered around. Luckily, this worked to the dog's advantage as all five passed right by the wheel of flames, two jabbing themselves through the shoulder portion of Jaguar's outfit, two more going through his pant legs and one going through his hat, the weasel now pinned up against the wall as Goofy leaped to the side, avoiding the fireballs.

But it didn't end there as Jaguar's eyes went wide, the fireballs returning to him, and with his arms bound to the wall the weasel was unable to retaliate, the flames engulfing his body. But as the weasel cried out in pain, luck was soon back on his side as the batons pinning him up against the wall burned to ash. Jaguar's body was now free once more as he quickly gathered the fire surrounding him, forming the fireballs again.

"That was most impressive," the weasel stated, "but not quite enough to finish me off, I'm afraid."

However, rather than striking terror into the dog's heart, Jaguar instead noticed Goofy breaking out into hysterics. The weasel blinked as Goofy carried on his silly laugh for some time before calming down, turning to the readers and saying, "At least his pants stayed on.

Jaguar blinked before looking down, noticing a horrifying sight. Now his top had been burned off, the collar being the only thing remaining of it. His pants were now more like shorts, and not regular shorts, but short shorts. The fronts of his shoes had been burned off as well, but on the plus side, his hat remained in perfect condition.

"You..." Jaguar grunted, fury in his eyes while his body started to shake, Goofy now a tad scared as he gulped and said, "Oh, it's not so bad. You can always get a new one."

"YOU MONSTER!" Jaguar cried as his fireballs expanded in size, now fuelled by the weasel's hatred and anger, "THIS OUTFIT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THROUGH MY FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS, NEVER TARNISHED, ALWAYS CLEANED, AND NOW YOU'VE RUINED IT!"

"Well, maybe ya shouldn't have been playing with fire," Goofy suggested, but this only served to anger Jaguar further as the weasel hurled the wheel of fireballs at the dog, but he didn't leave it at that. He then proceeded to charge, bypassing the fireballs.

As dumb as Goofy may have seemed most of the time, he strangely knew exactly what Jaguar was trying to do. The weasel was trying to ensure that Goofy would get hit, even if it meant taking his own life with him. Now the jester needed to think faster than ever before, and he had just the plan.

Goofy pulled out one last baton, shoving the flaming end down his throat as his cheeks puffed up. Just as Jaguar had finally caught up to Goofy, the jester simply turned to the weasel and shot a torrent of flames from his mouth, sending Jaguar hurling into a wall, now covered in burns and out cold. However, Goofy was too late to dodge the incoming fireballs as they all covered his body, the jester shouting, "YAAAAAAAAAAHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOY!"

Bogard continued to fire an onslaught of cannonballs while Donald trembled, but strangely enough, both heard the loud cry of pain coming from a few doors down.

"GOOFY!" Donald yelped as Bogard laughed before saying, "Now you can join your friend," taking advantage of the fact that the duck had just dropped his guard, hitting Donald with a cannonball as his robe burned up, the sailor's body now covered in soot.

However, things took a turn for better as the duck's ring started to glow, Donald now taking on his Arabian bandit outfit, his magic lamp in hand. Now a look of confidence took over as he rubbed the lamp saying, "Now you're gonna get it."

Bogard gulped before closing his eyes, now afraid for the first time. See, he may have been head-strong, but he wasn't stupid. He'd seen over the past how powerful magic could be, so he had all the reason to be fearful. However, after a few seconds, he noticed nothing had happened and slowly opened his eyes, noticing Donald's lower bill dropped and then looking down and realizing nothing had happened.

But why? Why hadn't Donald's magic worked? What had he done wrong? Well, it was too late to think about that as Bogard grunted, readying his cannons and saying, "I'm tired of this. It's time this battle ended."

Donald was spellbound for two reasons. One reason was that this was possibly the most intelligent thing Bogard had ever said since he'd made his appearance. The second reason was that Donald was helpless. What could he do?

However, he then remembered what Mickey told him. If he believed, he could get through even the toughest of situations. With that in mind, the duck rubbed his lamp, the genie hand once again coming out as Bogard fired a pair of cannonballs at him.

Both were wide-eyed in response to what happened next as the magic from the genie hand hit the cannonballs. But rather than transforming them like it had done to the icicles earlier, it instead sent the cannonballs over Bogard's head. The wolf looked up and gulped as the balls hovered over his head. After a mere couple of seconds, the balls finally descended, an explosion covering Bogard's body, the wolf's eyes spinning as he passed out.

Donald blinked, his regular outfit returning to him as he stared at the sight of Bogard now lying on the floor, unconscious. After a few seconds of staring, a smile replaced the look of shock as Donald broke out into insane laughter, the duck slapping his knee while tears of joy ran down his face.

"I did it!" the duck shouted before resuming his laughter, adding, "I actually did it!"

However, his laughter soon died as he remembered the sound of Goofy's trademark scream earlier. Now was not the time to laugh. With that in mind, Donald took off through the door he'd originally entered the room from, running down the halls. He needed to get to the dining hall quickly because, let us not forget, he also had to go back and help Mickey if it wasn't already too late.

Minnie continued to shoot an onslaught of magic blasts at Agan as the wizard simply blocked each one with magic from his hands, yawning while saying, "Come on, princess, just stop trying. Your magic is highly inferior to mine."

Minnie continued to fire magic at the man, determination in her eyes, but this was mostly an act. The truth was that the wizard was right and she knew it. Compared to a great sorcerer like Agan, Minnie was nothing more than a trainee.

Agan eventually got bored of her efforts as he effortlessly blocked her magic with one hand, using the other to shoot a small burst of fire at her, the princess avoiding it only to let her guard down as another flame hit her in the chest, the girl flying into the wall and losing her magician form along with her consciousness. Now she was powerless against Agan as the wizard laughed wickedly at the sight of this. Was this the end for her?

Meanwhile, Donald entered the dining hall, his eyes going wide with shock when he saw Goofy lying on the ground, his body covered in burns and his eyes closed. Donald held the dog up, shaking Goofy while shouting, "Goofy, wake up! It's me!"

Upon receiving no response, the duck proceeded to open up Goofy's right eye but was shocked to see the back of the dog's eye facing him, a sticky note attached saying "Property for sale". Tears ran down Donald's face as he held onto the duck, bawling while releasing waterworks from his eyes. He couldn't believe it. His best friend in the whole world was dead.

However, luck soon took a turn for the better as Goofy smacked his lips, slowly opening his eyelids, his eyes snapping back to the front of his face as he looked up at Donald and said, "Gorsh, I didn't think you cared that much about little old me."

"Yeah," Donald sniffed, still letting down tears, "Now don't talk, Goofy. You're supposed to be dead."

Suddenly, the duck's eyes went wide as he looked at Goofy who was now wide awake, Goofy chuckling and giving the duck a wave. Donald then looked up at the readers, his eye twitching before he let out tears of joy, embracing the jester while shouting, "I THOUGHT I'D LOST YOU FOREVER!"

"There, there," Goofy said, patting the duck's back, "I'm okay now."

However, things weren't looking quite nearly as well for Minnie as Agan used his magic to open up a large black hole in the floor, lifting up the princess by her collar while saying, "You know, Minnie, it's been fun, but I think we both know who the better fighter here is."

A grimace soon formed over Minnie's face as she opened her eyes, Agan's own eyes going wide with shock as the princess spat, "You might be the better magician, but I'm the better fighter!" as she proceeded to kick Agan in the chest, the wizard releasing his hold on Minnie and falling into the black hole, his eyes wide open as the hole closed in on itself, vanishing. And that was that. Agan was no more and Minnie was safe. Unfortunately, she was also in too much pain to move.

Finally, Mickey had reached the throne room. The mouse took a deep breath before opening the door. Pete was sitting in his chair, tapping his fingers against the arms of it before slowly rising to his feet, glaring at the mouse.

"You're not the princess," Pete stated as Mickey glared before stating, "I take it you're the king, right?"

"Oh, does my elegance really shine that brightly?" the cat replied as Mickey shook his head and remarked, "Actually, it's your ugly face that gave you away!"

Pete narrowed his eyelids as he reached down, picking Mickey up by his tail. Mickey threw his fists out, struggling to get free as Pete laughed at the pitiful efforts, flinging the mouse into the wall.

"With your size, you're in no position to insult me," the king stated as he held up his hands, magic coming from it as he said, "Just because I'm a king doesn't mean I can't do things for myself every now and again."

And this was it. Mickey was now face-to-face with King Pete, Donald and Goofy too far away to help him. Minnie was unable to move, so she couldn't come to his aid either. The mouse was on his own for this, but that didn't matter. He had come all this way to save his best friend. He wouldn't let such circumstances discourage him. But would he be enough to stop the king?


	22. Chapter 22

The Magical Quest

This was it, the beginning of the final battle. Mickey was now going up against King Pete. This battle would decide everything. Would Mickey save Pluto or would his best friend including Magic Kingdom be doomed forever?

The mouse got up and charged at the king, Pete sending a blast of magic at the mouse. Mickey simply rolled to the side, a grin on his face as he boosted himself forward along the ground, his feet now aimed at Pete's ankles. However, Pete was prepared as blue flames formed in his hands, soon vanishing as blue fire shot up from the ground, Mickey quickly stopping his movement just in time to avoid burning.

Pete laughed at this sight as he conjured up more magic, the white torches that lined the wall transforming into bat-like creatures, flying towards Mickey as the king stated, "It seems a real crying shame after you came all this way that you're going to fall right now!"

The mouse was punched one of the torches in the face, the others soaring into the mouse and forcing him up against the wall, Pete continuing, "You came many miles to get this far, you faced all of my beasts and my greatest of minions, but now that you're up against me, how will win? I ask you how?"

Mickey started to sweat badly as the torch-bats positioned the fire coming from their tops in front of the peasant's face. Mickey gritted his teeth with fury, realizing that he couldn't let himself lose as he threw out his arms and legs, sending the torches back, his ring glowing and his fire fighter outfit replacing his regular clothes.

"You might have magic on your side," the king said as Mickey doused the flames on the torch-bats' heads, the enchanted objects panicking and returning to their posts, the king adding, "But is it enough? Think about that!"

With that, Pete conjured up more magic, this time bringing fragments of the wall to life as they flew at the mouse, Mickey soon being pelted and unable to stop the attack, his fire fighter form leaving him while Pete continued, "You've relied so heavily on magic up to this point that without it you're nothing! Without that ring to back your up, you're doomed to fall flat!"

Mickey's ring glowed as his mountain climbing gear soon took form, the mouse using his hook to grab hold of one of the stone bricks, swinging it around as it hit the others, shattering them to bits. Even Pete was in shock as the mouse released the portion of the wall, sending it flying into the king's face.

"I must admit your powers aren't really all that bad," the king quipped, rubbing his nose before emitting more magic from his fingertips, this time summoning an army of ghosts that resembled him and sending them toward the peasant while stating, "But they're nothing in comparison to mine!"

Mickey hurled his grappling hook at one of the ghosts, but the hook passed right through as the mouse's eyes went wide, the ghosts all flying around him, closing in on him each second to deal a devastating blow while Pete laughed and exclaimed, "You will soon see who the better one is! On your soul my magic ghosts shall dine!"

The mouse continued to take in beating after beating from the ghosts, gritting his teeth as his climbing gear left him. However, when his ring glowed a third time, his magician gear now on, the mouse grinned, light charging up on his fingertip until the peasant released a huge blast of magic. The ghosts all screamed in terror before dissipating as a result of the attack, Mickey now standing with pride, Pete now staring at this and backing off, laughing nervously.

"Perhaps I was a little too hasty," the king said, "Let's try to talk this out."

"I think not, your majesty!" Mickey retorted, charging up for another blast as he added, "The thought of you turning good I highly doubt!"

With that, the mouse unleashed a burst of magic at the king, Pete's eyes going wide as the magic sent him flying into a wall, the material crumbling around him as Mickey breathed a sigh of relief, wiping sweat off of his forehead. It was finally over. He had won... or at least that's what he thought.

Mickey's eyes went wide, his jaw dropped as Pete slowly rose back to his feet, a look of fury in his eyes. With that, he held up his arms and said, "It seems that I'm not big enough to stop you just yet. Boy, I sure hope this spell works."

With that, the king released a beautiful red and blue magic from his fingertips as he chanted, "Anuma gluma pikesta leshar! Grender en hetel a powa tomeh allestar!"

With that, Mickey's eyes went wide as Pete's body started to grow. Before, he was already three times the mouse's height and width. How could the peasant deal with an even bigger Pete?

Nevertheless, Pete became three times taller than he'd first started, now looming over the mouse with a wicked grin on his face. Mickey fired a blast of magic at the king's face as an explosion formed. However, when the explosion cleared, it was revealed that Pete had barely taken in any pain at all.

"Just give it up, pipsqueak," the king taunted, laughing wickedly, "You can't win now."

Mickey prepared another blast only for the king to lift him up, only this time by the collar as he placed the mouse up on the chandelier, hanging by said collar. Mickey attempted to fight it only for the king to send a magic blast at the chandelier, causing the ornament to fall, crushing Mickey underneath.

The mouse grunted, struggling to get up as Pete asked, "Need a hand?" using magic to lifted the chandelier off of the mouse only to wrap a series of chains around the mouse.

Mickey struggled to get free as the king laughed before stating, "You know, before you barely stood a chance at all! Now look at you, it seems you're gonna fall!"

Pete then proceeded to snap his fingers, a large chunk of the ground cracking open beneath Mickey, the end of the chain soon latched to the ceiling as the king added, "It's such a shame, you know, I was kinda having fun, but the fun has to stop now, it's common knowledge to anyone."

Mickey looked down, then up at Pete, a look of helplessness now on his face. He realized that he couldn't possibly stand up to Pete. He had truly met his match. When Mickey's magician outfit vanished, the helplessness of the situation became even clearer as the mouse looked down and sighed, a tear forming in his right eye.

"Now tah-tah, goodbye, so long, toodaloo and all that stuff," Pete said, waving at Mickey as the chains started to loosen, "It's clear to anyone this visit has gone on long enough. I'll miss you, mouse, I really do hope you enjoyed your stay, because now it's about darn time you simply went away!"

All the while, Minnie's eyes widened, the princess gasping as Donald and Goofy had just entered the room where she had fought Agan, Goofy looking around and chuckling, "Ahyuck, Minnie won!"

"Thank goodness!" Donald exclaimed with a sigh as Minnie turned to the two and said, "Guys, Mickey's in serious danger."

Donald and Goofy gulped as Donald folded up his sleeves shouting, "Alright! There's no time to lose! Let's go help our friend!"

"Right behind ya, Donald!" Goofy quipped, but as the duo ran forward, they noticed that Minnie wasn't following them, the two screeching to a halt.

"Oh, sorry," Minnie groaned, "Agan injured my legs. Go on without me."

Donald looked at Goofy who put on a serious expression, marching over to Minnie and lifting her up by the arm stating, "No one is going to be left behind! Mickey needs your support most of all!"

"But how can I help?" the princess replied, pointing at her legs as the jester chuckled and replied, "Mickey loves you. Just the fact that you're okay may give him a boost in con-fee-dense."

Minnie blushed upon hearing that. Mickey actually loved her? She couldn't believe it. This was too good to be true. But now was not the time to think about that. They had to help their comrade.

Pete laughed maniacally as the chain was just about to untie itself. Soon, Mickey would fall to his death. However, as one last teardrop fell, the mouse letting out one last sniffle, he realized something. He couldn't just give up. So what if his ring powers had failed him? So what if Pete was nine times his size? He had come all this way to save Pluto, and what's more; his friends had risked their lives so he could fight and defeat King Pete. He couldn't let something like that go.

With that in mind, Mickey waited for the chains to finally free him from their grip, quickly grabbing a hold of them. Pete's eyes went wide as the mouse swung from the chain like one would a vine toward the king and planted both his feet hard into the cat's eyes. Pete yelped in pain, holding onto his now hurting eyes as the mouse proceeded to leap behind the cat, giving the back of his right ankle a swift kick.

Pete may have been huge in comparison to the mouse, but he still felt intense pain from a kick to the leg. As such, he started hopping on one foot in order to ignore the pain, Mickey placing both his hands firmly against the king's back, pushing hard. Pete's eyes went wide as he started to topple forward toward the pit he had created.

He gulped, turned to the readers and said, "Well, I guess this is it for old king Petey," as he descending down the pit, Mickey breathing a sigh of relief.

"Finally, it's over," the mouse stated as he turned around and took a step forward, soon feeling something pulling on his tail.

The peasant turned, his eyes going wide as he saw Pete's hand gripping on his tail, Pete shouting, "I'M TAKING YOU DOWN WITH ME, PAL!"

However, just as all seemed lost, Mickey's ring glowed even brighter than before. The mouse's eyes went wide as he soon grew in size, now the same height as Pete currently was. The mouse then frowned, turning his attention back to Pete's hand, the king's eyes going wide at the sight of this as he grinned nervously while asking, "I don't suppose you could pull an old king up or something, could you, old buddy, old pal?"

Mickey pondering this before shouting, "FAT CHANCE!" as he quickly pulled his tail back and out of Pete's grip, the king biting his lip and crying out in agony as he fell to a big black hole on the bottom of the pit. And that was that. Pete had been vanquished and thus the floor repaired itself, Mickey returning to normal size.

The mouse took deep breaths just as the door opened up, his friends standing there as Goofy shouted, "We're here to rescue..." then noticed that Mickey was alone in the room, scratching his head and asking, "Where's the king?"

Mickey simply chuckled and said, "He's gone, Goofy," as Donald's eyes went wide, the duck asking, "Then does that mean...?" the mouse nodding before saying, "Yes, it's over now."

Minnie smiled as Mickey ran over to her, a look of concern on his face as she simply chuckled and said, "It's okay. My legs will heal up soon."

Mickey then heard the sound of barking coming from the one room he hadn't been to, his eyes going wide and a smile crossing his face. He turned back to the others, who signalled him to go toward the door. With that, the mouse headed over to the door only to be stopped by a group of guards.

"Move it!" the mouse spat, holding up his fists, "I'll take you all on if you stand in my way! I beat your king, after all!"

"Yes, you did," one of the guards said as he took off his helmet, bowing before the mouse and saying, "Thank you, young mouse."

The others were shocked as the other guards stepped out of the way, bowing before Mickey. But why? Why were they thanking the one who just killed their king? Was he really that terrible of a ruler?

All the same, Mickey dared not question this as he slowly made his way toward the door, grabbing hold of the handle and opening it up, Pluto sitting in a cage, a big smile on his face as he barked for joy, holding onto the cage bars, his tail wagging. One of the guards handed Mickey the key to the cell as Mickey walked over and unlocked it. Almost immediately afterwards, Pluto pounced on the peasant and started licking his face repeatedly, Mickey laughing all the while. The others couldn't help but feel touched watching this scene.

"It's okay, boy!" Mickey exclaimed, patting the dog on the head before saying, "We can go home now."

And that was that. All of the peasants were free from their cells and all was well in Peteland. The dark clouds covering the town cleared and the sun shone upon the faced of the peasants, big smiles forming on their faces. But the best part was that Mickey and his friends were given a royal escort back to Magic Kingdom. As they left, the townsfolk all waved and cheered, happy to finally be free of Pete's tyranny.

Bogard and Jaguar, however, weren't cheering. They simply stood and watched as Bogard said, "Now that Agan's gone, I'm not sure what to do with my life."

Jaguar then placed a hand on the wolf's shoulder before stating, "You could serve as my general as I take the throne," Bogard turning to the weasel and retorting, "Hey, I'm stronger than you, not to mention I still have my clothes completely on!"

With that, the two started a childish brawl, a little boy soon breaking them up and suggesting, "How about we have an election?" Jaguar nodding his head and saying, "That could work," before Bogard blinked and asked, "What's an election?"

As the heroes rode back to the kingdom, Minnie turned to Mickey and blushed before saying, "Uh... Mickey... you remember how when we were in that pot, I was about to say something to you?"

"Yeah, what about that?" Mickey asked as the princess replied, "Well, there wasn't really a hot coal on your head," the peasant asking, "There wasn't?"

Minnie then shook her head as the other mouse continued, "So, what was it you were gonna say?" as the princess held onto the peasant's head, locking her lips up against his. Mickey's eyes went wide as Goofy and Donald smiled at the sight, Pluto wagging his tail. Mickey then closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the princess, holding her in a light embrace.

And soon, all five returned to the kingdom as Richard immediately ran towards the coach they had ridden on, embracing his daughter, tears in his eyes as he cried, "I was so worried, I put off eating for the entire time!" then pointing at his slightly slimmer build added, "Look, I lost thirty pounds!"

"Well, that's hardly a bad thing, father," Minnie replied, patting the king's belly as the other peasants noticed Mickey, Goofy and Donald riding the wagon as well. Marlon watched this and chuckled before saying, "I knew they'd do it."

Many girls crowded around Goofy as the dog blushed and chuckled, "Ahyuck, gorsh!" as Donald stood proudly, no one coming toward him, the sailor groaning, "Aw, phooey!"

Daisy stood among the others, folding her arms and refusing to approach him. However, the pressure soon caved in on her as she ran toward the male duck and held onto his shoulders exclaiming, "Thank goodness you're okay, Donald! I was so worried about you!"

"Aw, it was nothing for me," the sailor replied, flexing his muscle as it drooped, the duck glaring at it, the muscle sticking back up as Daisy couldn't hold in her urges any longer. Now it was no longer embarrassing for her to admit her feelings, thus she tackled Donald to the ground and repeatedly kissed his beak.

"By the way dad," Minnie said, pointing at Mickey, Richard turning to him as the mouse bowed, Minnie giggling and saying, "Mickey, you don't have to bow anymore."

"I don't?" the peasant asked, Richard turning to his daughter and asking, "He doesn't?"

Minnie shook her head and said, "No, you don't Mickey, and do you know why?" before she walked over to him, holding his hand with a smile on her face.

"Wait, are you saying you've chosen a...?" Richard started to ask as Minnie nodded and turned back to Mickey, asking, "Mickey Mouse, will you be my king?"

Mickey's heart started pounding, the peasant blushing while saying, "But, Mickey, I'm just a peasant and..." but Minnie cut him off by holding her finger up against his lips, saying, "It doesn't matter to me. You're royalty in my eyes."

With that said, Mickey nodded as the two embraced for one last kiss, everyone cheering and whistling all the while. Soon, Mickey was crowned the prince of Magic Kingdom, soon to be king once Richard was out of power.

And that was that. Magic Kingdom was saved, Mickey and Minnie were married, Donald and Daisy were going out, Goofy was the envy of everyone in the kingdom and most of all, Pluto was back home, safe and sound. He had always had faith in his master and Mickey had pulled through.

Back in Peteland, Bogard and Jaguar had both lost the election to a last-minute third candidate, Bill the lizard. Surprisingly, he ran the kingdom better than anyone else would have, but luckily, Jaguar and Bogard still lived in the castle, though now Jaguar was the entertainer and Bogard trained the guards. All in all, both considered this an upgrade.

Soon it was the first night that Mickey and Minnie would spend as husband and wife. Minnie looked out the window at the stars with a big smile on her face, Mickey soon joining her as he turned to her, his smile going wider.

Minnie then turned to Mickey and said, "When I saw your eyes for the first time, I felt things that I never felt before."

Mickey turned to her, blinking as the princess continued, "Now that I've seen your handsome smile, I want to see you more and more."

With that, she walked away from the window, twirling gracefully, Mickey watching with a big smile as the princess added, "Daisy didn't think that it should be, but I for one thought it should. After all, is it not my life to live? It was my choice to do what I could."

Mickey nodded and placed his hand against hers before saying, "A queen needs a king who's loyal and kind to rule by her side. And this hero Mickey is just that king who will selflessly abide."

"I knew it would work," Minnie said as Mickey nodded and replied, "You're truly the one for me."

And with that, the two held both hands, gazed into each others eyes and said, "This is a match that was truly meant to be," before sharing one long kiss. And with that, they lived happily ever after.


End file.
